Bethel Park school board approves budget with tax increase
The Bethel Park school board approved the district’s 2023-24 budget, which includes a 4.8% tax increase.
The $108 million spending plan will raise the millage in Bethel Park by 1.1245 mills, to 24.5526 mills. This represents an annual increase of about $173 for a home assessed at $154,000.
The final budget anticipates the district will receive about $101 million in revenue. The district will use $6.9 million from the general fund to make up the difference.
“The school district is constantly trying to strike the balance between being fair to our taxpayers, while at the same time continuing to provide our students with a ‘best in class’ education our community has come to expect,” said Jim Cromie, district spokesperson.
The district points to the recent reassessment of South Hills Village mall as one of the main factors driving the tax increase, as it will cost $650,000 in revenue each year.
“In recent years, we have streamlined our administrative staff and made a number of other staffing adjustments so that our student programming would not be impacted,” Cromie said. “The recent reassessment of South Hills Village, which will mean a substantial decline in tax revenues from one of our most important businesses, meant that we had no choice but to raise taxes to make up that budgetary shortfall.”