Mar 26, 2018 By Jacob Calvin Meyer staff Writer jmeyer@thealmanac.Net 6 min read

The Mt. Lebanon School Board’s latest 2018-19 budget presentation proposes a smaller tax increase than the 0.73 mill increase put forward in February.

Business director Janice Klein said during the board’s March 12 discussion meeting that the nearly $100 million proposed budget would require a millage increase from 23.93 to 24.47 mills. The 0.54 mill increase, which would increase taxpayers’ real estate tax by $54 for every $100,000 of assessed property value, is less than the 2.4 percent Act 1 Index of 0.57 of a mill.

The 0.73 mill increase proposed during February’s discussion meeting required state exceptions to raise taxes above the index, but Klein said the district was approved only one exception for a minimal increase of 0.01 of a mill, meaning the board cannot raise taxes above 0.58 of a mill for the 2018-19 year.

“(The budget) is not where the board would like it to be at this time,” said Superintendent Tim Steinhauer. “We are in the process of refining numbers every day to make sure our budgets chairs and administrators have put together solid budgets. The budget will be refined over time.”

Klein said one of the bigger causes of tax increases for the district in recent years is the Pennsylvania Public School Employees’ Retirement System.

“A normal cost would be about 7 percent for the state and the school district to share, but because of significant under funding in prior years from the state and school district, that rate is now up in the 33 percent range,” Klein said. “We have no choice about that, and the state has no choice about that.”

Klein then explained that several unknowns, such as the ongoing teachers negotiations and the state budget are causing uncertainty in the budget.

“We don’t know what the teachers salaries will be,” Klein said. “Salaries and fringe benefits are 78 percent of our costs, and the bulk of that–around 70 percent of that–are the cost of our teachers.”

Over the last 12 years, the average tax increase has been 0.48 mills. The district did not raise taxes last year, and Steinhauer said that is a loftier goal this year.

“We’re not sure that without making some significant changes to programs we’re not going to be able to get to zero, but we’re certainly going to try,” Steinhauer said.

The board will approve the proposed budget in April and the final budget in May. For more information on the budget, visit www.mtlsd.org/budget.

In addition to the budget discussion on March 12 was a presentation by Jim Sauer from J.T. Sauer & Associates about the design of a new high school practice field.

The field on an upper level, called the “rockpile,” will be used for various district and community sporting events and practices.

Sauer presented the board the two options for the field: a synthetic turf field versus a natural grass field. Sauer explained that while the upfront cost of the turf field would be higher than the grass surface, the long-term costs are about the same when adjusting for yearly maintenance.

The synthetic turf field is projected to cost the district $1.56 million compared to about $1 million for the natural grass option. Sauer said maintenance on a natural grass field is significantly higher than that of a turf field, ranging from $35,000-50,000 a year.

Furthermore, Sauer said the “cost per use” of the turf field is much lower, considering more athletic events would be able to be played on a turf field since the weather wouldn’t have as much of an impact as it would for a grass field.

“We all agreed we wanted a full surface to be able to maximize the use,” said board member Larry Lebowitz. “When I think about the difference of the utilization between the two, and I look at what that property is going to look like, I think this is a slam dunk. This is a phenomenal opportunity to enhance our community in a tremendous way.”

Sauer added that the turf field would be playable sooner than the grass field. While the grass field would be playable by the summer of 2019, Sauer said the turf field could be ready by this fall.

Lastly, Sauer said that the life of a turf field is about 10-12 years before a new surface would need to be put in.

“I was very undecided on this,” board member Hugh Beal said. “In light of the fact that the maintenance cost over time would come close to the cost of the (turf field), and if you incorporate in the shear increase in the usage, the cost per use would drop significantly.”

The field design is out for bid and the board will decide in the coming months whether to choose the turf or the grass surface.

Also during the meeting, the board discussed a resolution, provided by the Pennsylvania School Boards Association, opposing Senate Bill 2, a Pennsylvania bill that would transfer taxpayer dollars from public school districts to private schools.

Through education savings account (ESA) voucher programs, Senate Bill 2 – if passed – would allow families with children in bottom 15 percent performing school districts to use the child’s per-student tax money for private school or other educational services. The bill has been in the Senate Education Committee since October, and Mt. Lebanon is one of several school districts to recently pass the resolution, including South Fayette.

“I don’t think we as advocates of public education, which is what these school board members are supposed to be, should be in favor of anything that takes money out of the public schools,” said board member Elaine Cappucci during the March 12 meeting.

The board voted to pass the resolution during its March 19 meeting, with Alfonso Frioni as the only school board member voting no.

“I’m an absolute advocate for the public school system,” said Frioni. “However, there are certain situations where public education is failing our students, and parents deserve a second option.”