Peters Township School District passes budget with tax increase
As expected, the Peters Township School Board approved its budget for the 2015-16 school year at its June 29 meeting and township residents will see their taxes go up, albeit somewhat smaller than originally anticipated.
The final budget passed by the board came to $59.391 million, down slightly from the proposed final budget in May that totaled $56.687 million. The real estate millage rate set by the board for the upcoming school year is 110.75 mills, a 3.608 mill increase from the previous year.
If a homeowner’s real estate tax is $1,000, then the tax bill will increase by $33.68, and if it is $2,000, then the taxes will increase by $67.35 a year.
The bulk of the school district’s revenue comes from local sources such as real estate taxes, earned income tax and real estate transfer tax. For the 2015-16 school year, the district said it expects to receive $44.7 million from local sources, $14.1 million from the state, $381.633 from federal sources and $160,500 from miscellaneous sources.
In other business, the board hired three new teachers and a new librarian at Bower Hill Elementary School. The board also accepted the resignation of Lindsey Myers, the librarian at Peters Township High School, effective Aug. 14.
The board tabled action on paid support personnel for its 2015-16 athletic events after board member Jamison Hardy questioned the 3 percent pay rate increase for these positions, which include ticket takers, ticket sellers, crowd control personnel, announcers and scorekeepers. This issue is expected to be addressed at the board’s August meeting.
Board members also held the first reading of the district’s Suicide Awareness, Prevention and Response policy.
This policy proposes giving students age-appropriate education on the importance of safe and healthy choices, coping strategies, as well as how to recognize risk factors and warning signs, and how to find help if needed.
District employees will also receive information on risk factors, warning signs and response procedures. In addition, each school principal will designate a school suicide prevention coordinator to act as a point of contact in each school for issues related to suicide prevention.