Mt. Lebanon School Board passes final budget with tax increase

In the past 12 years, the Mt. Lebanon School Board has raised its property tax rate by an average of .48 mills a year.
The board continued that trend May 21 when it passed the 2018-19 final budget that increases taxes by .39 of a mill. The millage increase from 23.93 mills to 24.32 means residents will pay $2,432 in real estate taxes, an increase of $39, for every $100,000 of assessed property value.
To balance the $98.9 million budget, the district will take $750,000 from the fund balance.
The .39-mill increase is about half of what was originally projected in the board’s preliminary budget. In February, the district sought a .73 mill increase, which would have gone over the allotted Act 1 Index of 2.4 percent, or .57 of a mill.
In past meetings, business director Janice Klein said a millage increase in 2018-19 is due to increases in the Pennsylvania Public School Employees’ Retirement System as well as healthcare costs, teacher negotiations and the state budget.
Superintendent Tim Steinhauer said the district didn’t have to reduce any staff or programs to balance the budget.
“We will continue to look for cost savings as we do every year,” he said.