LH board approves budget, revenue hike
The Laurel Highlands School Board will raise local tax revenue by 10 percent, gaining about $1 million to support a final $32.99 million budget for the upcoming fiscal year. The board, on a 6-1 vote at a special meeting Friday night, approved the budget, taking advantage of an opportunity in this year of a countywide property reassessment to adjust taxes to collect as much, but no more, than 10 percent of the prior year’s local revenue. That 10 percent hike meant $1,030,983 and a balanced budget for the district.
To the taxpayer, the new 12.57-mill tax rate means a tax bill of $125 for each $10,000 of a property’s assessed value, keeping in mind the assessed value is now 100 percent of market value after the countywide reassessment.
If the school board had opted to remain revenue neutral and take no increase this year, the tax rate would have been 11.31 mills, or $113 for each $10,000 of assessed value.
The board had considered taking just half of that increase, or 5 percent, but Superintendent Dr. Ronald Sheba recommended and business manager Joyce Estocak and administrator Dr. Gary Brain concurred Friday that the full 10 percent raise was needed.
“I realize how difficult it is to raise taxes and appreciate your reluctance to do so,” Sheba said in a written statement he distributed to the board during a work session that preceded the special meeting.
He said he watched a Pittsburgh television news report the night before that claimed two-thirds of the state’s school boards are raising taxes this year.
He said the school district lost about $2 million in revenue through successful property assessment appeals from 1997 to 2001. He said the retirement rate goes up this year from 1.15 percent to 3.77 percent, costing the school district an added $409,624. At the same time, he said, the district will experience an 11 percent increase for Blue Cross/Blue Shield rates, adding a $473,000 expense.
He argued that the tax adjustment can be almost entirely used to offset the increases in the retirement plan and Blue Cross/Blue Shield coverage.
“We have almost $900,000 in new expenses we have absolutely no control over,” Sheba said before the vote. “I urge you to take 10 percent.”
Director Angelo Giachetti was the lone director to vote no. Directors Julia Ciarrocchi and Shirley Kefover were absent.
President Edward S. George asked Giachetti why he voted no, and Giachetti said he would make no speeches.
“I voted no, and that’s what I wanted to vote,” he said.
Giachetti also voted no to the tax rate, which the board approved on a 6-1 vote.
Board members, during discussion at the work session, complained about the state Legislature’s inability to pass a final budget for education, leaving them wondering what the district may get from the state and guessing they may need to reopen the budget later to make adjustments.
Director Tom Vernon said the budget takes into account a 2.5 percent raise from the state that Gov. Ed Rendell proposed. He hoped for more from the state but acknowledged there could be less, and he said the school board would need to reopen the budget if the state’s contribution is something other than 2.5 percent, or $321,791 over last year’s allocations.
“We’ve got to give the best quality education to our children that we can afford,” Vernon said.
George said the school district could benefit from Rendell’s tax reform proposal, saying new state money in the form of personal income tax or some type of sales tax could help lower local taxes.
George also talked about the revenue increase the school board approved, saying it is based on last year’s revenue before some of the new construction in the district and may not mean an actual tax hike for everyone. He said the reassessment lowered the value of some properties, left others the same and raised some, and he reasoned the school district’s property owners will not see a 10 percent increase across the board. He said the district is, in effect, starting over with a new millage base year.
Regarding cuts in expenses, Vernon mentioned about 85 percent of the budget is fixed costs for salaries and benefits that cannot be adjusted. Budget preparations included about $866,763 in cuts.
Director Judy Browell said the school board left 14 positions unfilled last year and did not return those to this year’s budget, which she said adds 10 more positions to those that will not be filled.
In another matter, the board voted to realign staff, with Sheba asking them to move on the realignment process.
In response to positions being abolished, he said the faculty will be rearranged to meet the needs of the school district. Vernon stressed no one will lose a job, and the openings come from retirements.
However, school officials gave no details on exactly what positions will not be filled. Solicitor Gary Frankhouser said the staffing realignment will depend on enrollment and the posting and bidding process.
The board accepted retirements Friday from Joyce Santore, a Title 1 math teacher for Marshall and Hutchinson elementary schools, after 331/2 years of service; Rose Micarelli, a Title 1 reading specialist for Marshall Elementary School, after 31 years of service; Carolyn Gabor, secondary school counselor, high school, after 18 years of service; and Joseph Kukan, assistant principal, high school, after 37 years of service.
In other business, the school board adopted the strategic plan for 2003-2009. Giachetti cast the lone no vote.
The plan includes a proposal to close one of the five elementary schools, realign the students and eventually create elementary centers for kindergarten to second grade and third to fifth grade. The plan is available in all of the school district’s buildings for public review.
Sheba said individual items within the strategic plan still will require school board action along the way.
“The issue of voting for that plan doesn’t mean everything in that plan is adopted,” he said.
In further matters, the board, on a 6-1 vote, approved the $3.5 million 2003-2004 budget for the Fayette County Area Vocational-Technical School. The budget requires a $503,246 contribution from Laurel Highlands. Vernon voted no.
The school board will meet June 30 to give its final approval to refinance 1998 and 1999 bond issues, a move that is expected to save the school district at least $600,000 and could save as much as $1 million on the debt. The directors voted Friday to enter into a contract with National City to proceed with the refinancing.