BVA school board votes not to exceed the tax index for 2019-20 school year
BELLE VERNON – Board members of the Belle Vernon Area School District agreed not to raise property taxes above the index for the 2019-20 school year.
Approval of the Act 1 resolution means that any potential tax hike cannot exceed 3.1 percent, said board President Lou Rood, during the board’s monthly meeting Monday. He added that it’s too early to determine if the district will include a tax hike in its next budget.
“It all depends on what our costs will be. We still don’t know what a (retirement) or insurance increase might be and we don’t know how much we’re going to have to pay for a bond. On top of that, we are in a contract negotiation with our teachers. So, there are a lot of moving parts that will go into our decision,” said Rood.
Also, during the meeting, the board addressed concerns about the absence of Director Aaron Bialon, who has missed several recent meetings.
Ted Petrosky, a resident, asked the board if it can take action to remove Bialon from office.
“Once an officer is elected, it’s very hard to remove them from office,” said Rood. “I know a neighboring community is having attendance problems, but we just have directors who miss from time to time.”
Bialon, who has stated that he is experiencing health problems, also recently resigned as the district’s representative to the Central Westmoreland Career and Technology Center’s Joint Operating Committee.
In other business, the board authorized the district’s administration to proceed with the 2019 bond issue.
“Next in the process, we will determine how much we wish to borrow,” said Rood. “And that’s going to be predicated on what goes on at our facilities meeting. We have old buildings and we have identified many things that need to be fixed. We will have to set priorities for what we want to do with the bond.”
Rood said that the board hopes to vote on the bond issue soon so it can take advantage of the favorable bond market. A formal debt-incurring resolution is expected to be considered by the board on or before Feb. 25.
In addition, Rood said that residents of the district are encouraged to participate in a survey related to BVA’s search for a new superintendent. The survey can be found at www.bellevernonarea.net/bvahs. Rood noted that the district has placed ads for the position at 22 different websites in Pennsylvania and several surrounding states.