Uniontown approves 2-mill tax hike
Uniontown Area School Board took two attempts Friday night to adopt the 2002-2003 budget, ultimately raising taxes by 2 mills. On the first motion, the budget totaled $32 million, with 2.85 mills more in taxes. The board needed to make up for a $418,778 shortfall between anticipated revenue and projected expenses, and 1 mill generates about $150,000 in revenue.
That option received a 4-4 split vote, with President Harry “Dutch” Kaufman and directors William Rittenhouse Jr., Dorothy Grahek and Tammy Boyle voting yes. The no votes came from directors Ken Meadows, Susan Clay, Charles Castor and Ronald Machesky. Director Nancy Herring was absent.
The second, successful motion was for the 2-mill tax hike to support a $31.9 million total budget. That motion passed on a 6-2 vote, with Clay and Castor voting no.
The difference in the two options was $118,500 cut from money set aside for legal judgments.
“Had we not been involved in litigation with the Nemacolin issue, we’d have no tax increase,” said Rittenhouse, who heads the finance committee, referring to a challenge by Nemacolin Woodlands Resort & Spa for a reduction of the property tax assessment.
As board members looked over the proposed budget and questioned various items, Machesky pointed out a $602,295 increase on a line item under administrative support services. According to the discussion, that item was money put aside for legal judgments. He said that item had been set at $38,000 in the 2001-2002 budget.
Of that total, $172,000 was included for the Fayette County Area Vocational-Technical School, in the event a longtime legal battle over the funding formula among the four member school districts there is resolved and Uniontown has to pay toward a settlement. The board members decided to cut $118,500 from what they could owe the vo-tech in order to reduce the budget for a 2-mill change in taxes instead of the original proposal for 2.85 mills.
Rittenhouse would not say afterward how much of the litigation money was reserved for the Nemacolin Woodlands issue, adding that a pending legal issue with an employee also is included in that category.
Rittenhouse had asked for alternatives when the budget at first did not pass.
“If we don’t pass this, we can’t pay the bills,” he said.
Meadows suggested allowing for a 3-percent raise in state subsidy and approving no more than the 2-mill tax hike.
Geho said he accounted for an added 2 percent in the state subsidy and each 1 percent more would add about $100,000 to the total revenue. The state budget, approved Saturday, will provide the district with a 2.4-percent increase in subsidy.
“It’s a shame we have to sit here and guess what our esteemed legislators are doing out there,” Kaufman said.
“We do have to make a decision. We do have to come up with something. Nobody wants to raise taxes, but we have to make sure our children are educated and the district of 400-plus employees is financially taken care of.”
Meanwhile, the board considered any other possible cuts, with Geho saying the final budget was already $588,000 less than the tentative budget. Among the prior adjustments was a realigning of the administrative staff to take into account retirements and replacements with new people in different positions for lower salaries.
Having agreed to a 1.5-mill tax hike last year, Castor commented he would not vote for a raise in taxes a second time and that he did not want to punish thousands of taxpayers because of the assessment appeal of one business.
Meadows said he would approve nothing extra during this coming year than what was allowed in the budget.
Machesky added that the board also needs to look again at the building renovations and consider holding off on further stadium projects, to address the schools.
The board set the new tax rate at 52.15 mills on a 6-2 vote, with Castor and Clay voting no. Other taxes including per capita, earned income, occupational privilege and amusement taxes were passed on 8-0 votes. The mercantile tax passed on a 7-1 vote, with Clay voting no.