Frazier to follow same tax structure
PERRYOPOLIS – The Frazier School Board accepted the recommendation Thursday of the district’s Tax Study Commission to retain the current tax structure as part of its reorganization. No one attended a public hearing on the matter prior to the meeting in which Tom Shetterly, school district business manager, stressed the decision by the Commission’s five-member panel was recognized as the most feasible way to offset property taxes for homeowners within the district.
The recommendation, however, doesn’t exclude the board from placing a question on the election ballot at a later date since it is non-binding.
The board appointed the Commission earlier this year in accordance with Act 1 or the Pennsylvania Taxpayer Relief Act.
Members of the Commission were responsible for analyzing the district’s current tax structure and determining whether or not it would be beneficial to keep it or raise the Earned Income Tax (EIT), rather than the personal income tax.
According to Shetterly, the district would have had to increase its EIT by .5 percent in order to meet the minimum eligible exclusion under the act, which would have provided a tax deduction of roughly $200, but would end up costing a household of two with a $50,000 income $250 in the long run.
Shetterly added Frazier’s current tax levy stands at .5 percent with revenue split between the district and one of five municipalities in which the homeowner resides.
A second option included converting the EIT to a Personal Income Tax that Shetterly said stood at .9 percent in order to generate the same revenue.
As the third option, Shetterly said the Commission conducted a thorough evaluation of the district’s revenue, including local and state funding and based it on their recommendation.
With that in mind, the board adopted a resolution that would not raise taxes above the 2007-2008 index of 4.9 percent.
In conjunction with the reorganization, the board elected 19-year veteran Bill Vargo to serve as president in a 5-2 vote, taking over the reins from Kathy Burkholder who held the post for the last year.
Voting in favor were Burkholder, John Sterdis, Valerie Bubnash, Stacey Erdely and Vicki Olexa with dissenting votes cast by John H. Lowery III and John Keffer while Dave Simmons was absent.
In addition, Erdely replaced Sterdis as vice president by a unanimous vote.
The board also agreed to continue holding its work session the first Thursday of each month at 6 p.m. and the regular meeting the third Thursday of the month at 7 p.m.
It also retained the law firm of Davis & Davis of Uniontown as solicitor for 2007 at a rate of $500 per month or $6,000 per year with the hourly billing rate to remain at $80.
Following the reorganization, the board held its regular meeting and took action on the following:
Elected Shetterly to serve again as a member of the Southwest Regional Tax Bureau Executive Committee for a one-year term.
Considered the recommendation by the administration and high school to purchase a supplementary math program called “Apangea Learning” to be used at the high school/middle school for remedial and enrichment. The program would be paid for with grant monies.
Tabled the hiring of Debra Tidholm as a long-term substitute for the high school/middle school library during Valerie Madorma’s medical leave of absence effective retroactively to Nov. 14 at the rate of $100 a day without benefits. Voting in favor to table the matter were Sterdis, Lowery, Keffer, Burkholder and Olexa.