Tax increase limited in Peters Township school budget
The Peters Township School District real estate tax rate will not rise by more than 2.3 percent for 2019-20.
The school board voted Jan. 22 to stay within the parameters of the index established for the district for the coming fiscal year in accordance with Act 1 of 2006, representing the maximum allowable increase without applying for an exception.
The current rate is 13.5 mills, and an increase of 2.3 percent would be .3105 mills, representing an extra $31.05 for each $100,000 of a property’s assessed value. The increase for 2018-19 was .31 mills, matching the district’s index for the current year of 2.4 percent.
To finance the construction of a new high school, the district plans to implement a total increase of 1.57 mills spread out over five years, according to information presented in conjunction with the 2018-19 budget.
A preliminary 2019-20 budget presented at a Jan. 14 school board finance committee meeting shows an estimated $68.313 million in expenditures. Projected revenue with no tax increase is $67.147 million, which would result in a “budget gap” of $1.166 million.
The gap narrows to $209,974 with a .3105-mill increase taken into consideration, according to the preliminary numbers, which show staff and debt service as some of the major cost drivers for the next fiscal year.
Source: Peters Township School District
Salaries will increase $1.11 million, or 3.6 percent, over 2018-2019, and the district’s obligation to the Public School Employees’ Retirement System rises by $644,933. Pension costs have increased from 3.6 percent of the district’s operating expenses in 2007-2008 to 16.02 percent in 2019-2020, the preliminary budget states.
With the new high school under construction, debt service costs are projected to increase by $745,694 and account for 9.7 percent of total District expenditures in 2019-20.
In another matter related to finances, the school board on Jan. 22 approved the single audit report prepared by certified public accounting firm Hosack, Speck, Muetzel & Wood LLP for the 2017-18 fiscal year, as presented at the prior week’s finance committee meeting.