Brownsville school board adopts budget with tax increase
Herald-Standard BROWNSVILLE – The Brownsville Area School board adopted a $2.8 million tentative budget Monday that includes a half-mill real estate tax increase.
According to Michael Huth, the district’s business manage, 1 mill generates $348,000. He said the half-mill increase will mean an increase of about $17.50 for the average resident.
The board will vote to adopt the final budget on June 17 at 7 p.m. Huth said the tentative budget will be available for review beginning today at 9 a.m.
Directors Stella Broadwater and Nena Kaminsky both voted against adopting the tentative budget in opposition of the tax increase and also voted down motions to extend the employment of John R. Joseph as an educational consultant for a period not to exceed 95 days at a salary of $45,000 and the hiring of Dr. Harry Miale as the administrative assistant to the superintendent and federal programs at a salary of $80,000. They both said their opposition did not reflect their feelings toward Miale or Joseph.
“I have a real problem with that (hiring Joseph and Miale) because we have someone working for 90 days and now we’re hiring someone full-time for $80,000,” Broadwater said.
Superintendent Larry Golembiewski said that Miale’s salary will be paid out of the district’s federal program funds, but Broadwater said that if Miale’s salary is taken from those funds then the district will begin to take Joseph’s salary out of the district’s general fund.
Joseph a retired special education director was hired in 2002 as a consultant to handle federal programs and general administration under the same terms. Two-thirds of his salary in that past has come from federal funds and one-third from the general fund.
Golembiewski said that Joseph’s salary will continue to come mostly from federal funds because the district’s federal funding has increased.
“They (Joseph and Miale’s salaries) are not coming out of local taxes. It’s coming out of federal funding,” Golembiewski said.
Broadwater also said that she would not approve the millage hike because when they approved the district’s $21 million high school/middle school renovation project they were told there would be no millage increase.
But Golembiewski said that the millage increase “is not reflective of the building project.” He cited an 18.9 percent increase in health insurance costs as the reason for the hike.
“We’re paying as much for the increase in health insurance costs as we are for the increase in salaries,” he said. “Next time we negotiate contracts, we may have to have the employees pick up some of the tab.”
Kaminsky agreed, “It’s been a free ride for employees for a long time.”
“We have no sidewalks, no streets in Brownsville and when we have astronomical salaries like these are tonight, how can we ask our residents to pay more,” Broadwater said, noting that the Brownsville residents cannot afford a property tax increase.
Broadwater and Kaminsky were the only dissenting votes for the tentative budget, hiring of Miale and the extension of Joseph’s contract. Directors John Evans and Andy Dorsey were absent from the meeting.
Miale is coming from the Cannon McMillan High School, where he was the building principal and also worked with federal programs. He said he worked at that school for three years. He said he worked in the Ringgold School District at the same capacity for 27 years. Miale received his doctorate of education from Waynesburg College and also a degree in educational leadership.