Peters Township School District to see tax increase
When the Peters Township School Board votes on its final budget for the upcoming school year at the June 22 meeting, homeowners will see their property taxes go up by 3.61 mills.
While no one likes a tax increase, for township homeowners, the impact of the additional taxes should be minimal. Going from 107.142 mills to 110.758 mills means that for every $500 currently paid in property tax, a homeowner’s tax bill will increase by $16.88. For example, if the current tax bill is $1,000, it will be raised by $33.76.
By comparison, the millage rate in Peters is lower than that of the Chartiers-Houston School District, the Charleroi School District and Canon-McMillan and Burgettstown districts.
The proposed final budget was presented to board members at the June 8 regular meeting.
The $59.1 million budget’s biggest cost drivers for the 2015-16 school year are staff salaries – and those costs are contractual and cannot be changed. Staff salaries are expected to exceed $3.6 million. Also, the Public School Employees’ Retirement System – PSERs – will now account for 25.84 percent of the budget, up $1.7 million from the current year. And special education costs now account for 10 percent of the overall budget and state reimbursement for services remains flat.
“Per pupil costs are increasing due to contractual costs, despite an enrollment that is slightly down,” said Shelly Belcher, district spokeswoman.
Per student expenditure is expected to total $14,029.07, up 5.15 percent, or $675.04, the district said.
Sources of revenue for the district are also shrinking. For example, revenue from taxable property is rising slightly, but at a lesser rate than in previous years. Local revenue accounts for 78.5 percent of the district’s overall budget, while state provides 22.67 percent of the district’s revenue. The remainder comes from the federal government and other sources.