USC School Board mulls tax increase
Upper St. Clair residents should be prepared for another increase in school taxes.
While the Upper St. Clair School District’s 2017-18 budget is far from being finalized, the school board adopted a resolution to raise taxes beyond the state Act 1 inflationary index during its Jan. 23 meeting.
Under Pennsylvania Act 1 of 2006, known as the Taxpayer Relief Act, Upper St. Clair is capped at an index of 2.5 percent for a tax increase, or .6085 mills, without going to referendum.
The district’s preliminary budget estimates expenditures of $79 million. The resolution gives the district the ability to seek exemptions for pension funding, which raises the district’s tax rate by approximately .1189 mills, and special education funding, which raises millage by .0899 mills.
The total maximum tax increase could be .8172 mills, which would equate to an additional $163 per year for a home assessed at $200,000.
This past June, the district increased its tax rate by 1.3033 mills, bringing the current millage rate to 24.3388 mills.
The district must adopt a finalized budget for 2017-2018 by the end of June. The budget will be available for review on the district’s website.
Several items that had been reviewed at the board’s January committee meeting were approved by the board on Jan. 23, including an electronic ticketing event system and a point of sale system for SHOP@USC.
Also approved were several fast track curriculum recommendations.
Among the approved recommendations are additional STEAM opportunities, including the potential of creating an Innovation Hub at Ft. Couch Middle School to extend the current programming being done at Boyce Middle School, studying the expansion of robotics offerings at the high school, and offering a course in Bioinfomatics at the High School.
Several recommendations enhance current high school course work including adding print journalism to the current Multi-Media Journalism course, changes to the delivery of forensic science, addition of more customized materials for AP Chemistry, and addition of an after-school audition-only orchestra experience for high school students.
At the elementary level, a new counseling curriculum will be piloted in grades 1, 2, and 3 to provide consistent and enhanced skills in the areas of social and emotional learning.
A list of the fast track curriculum recommendations is available at www.uscsd.k12.pa.us.
Members of the board were recognized for their service to the community as part of The Pennsylvania School Boards Association’s School Director Recognition Month.