May 28, 2003 By Steve Ostrosky 4 min read

JEFFERSON – Taxpayers in the Jefferson-Morgan School District may not see a tax increase next year, after the school board voted to approve a $10.2 million tentative 2003-04 budget Tuesday that increased only slightly from the current spending plan. The tentative budget, totaling $10,264,366, does not contain a tax increase, although the proposed tax rate of 19.88 mills is lower than the district’s present 89.6 mills because of Greene County’s recently completed property reassessment.

According to the ratio, taxpayers would pay $198.80 per $10,000 in assessed value on their property. For example, a person owning a $50,000 home would pay $994 in taxes and a person owning a $200,000 home would pay $3,976 in property taxes.

The rate was lowered to reflect the change in assessed value of property in the county, from 30 percent of market value to 100 percent of market value.

According to business manager Michael Conte, the budget represents a 1 percent increase overall, though several cost increases are budgeted in the next academic year. Conte said one mill will generate more than $148,000 in revenue for the school district, based on the tentative budget numbers.

He said health insurance costs are up 10 percent, general insurance costs are up 15 percent, wages and benefits increased and the district’s contribution to the Pennsylvania Public School Employees’ Retirement System (PSERS) jumped from 1.55 percent to 3.77 percent.

Conte said the district saved $84,000 by making route changes to its transportation program and by limiting budget requests from all departments to only essential items.

“We made cuts in all areas, except for textbooks and for salaries,” he said.

Based on discussions with officials in Harrisburg, Conte said, he included a 1.5 percent increase in state basic education subsidy for 2003-04, but that number will not become clearer until the state Legislature addresses the education line-item vetoed by Gov. Ed Rendell earlier this year after the rest of his 2003-04 budget was passed.

“We tried to make the best educated guess about what the state will give us,” he said.

Other Rendell proposals, the Early Childhood Education Investment Fund and the Student Achievement Fund, were budgeted for next year, totaling $343,470, with the hopes that those will be approved and implemented. Conte said those numbers will be removed from the final budget if those programs are not approved by the state Legislature.

According to the plan, local revenue will drop from $3,905,433 to $3,353,280, while state revenue is projected to increase from $5,704,989 to $6,172,002. Conte said the reason local revenue is projected to decline is based on an 88 percent collection rate of taxes and assessment appeals on properties after the reassessment.

Conte said several budget committee meetings will be held to discuss the budget before it is adopted at the board’s June 30 meeting, with the next committee meeting slated for Monday. He said the spending plan could increase or decrease during the next month, and hopefully more concrete numbers will come from the state in the meantime.

Cory Grandel, chairman of the board’s budget committee, commended the board and committee for developing a budget that was “streamlined” and held the line on taxes.

“It was done by placing close attention to the district’s overall expenditure and revenue figures,” he said. “The education of our children, instructional development, regular and vocational programs were our top priorities.”

The directors voted 6-2 to approve the tentative budget, with directors Mark Pochron and Donna Shaffer voting no. Pochron said he voted against the budget because it did not contain any “safeguards” in case the district falls short on staffing, computer or technology equipment or in other areas. Director Mark Grimes was absent Tuesday.

In another matter, the board voted to approve the tentative 2003-04 budget for the Greene County Vocational-Technical School, totaling $2,291,788, with the district’s share estimated at $240,000. The projected budget is a 4 percent increase over the 2002-03 spending plan, according to director Remo Bertugli, who said the operating committee is working to cut costs where possible before approving the final budget for the vo-tech.

The directors voted Grandel as board treasurer for the 2003-04 school year, a position he will have to vacate later this year when he takes over as Greene County treasurer in January. Grandel took the Democratic nomination for treasurer in last week’s primary election.