May 24, 2007 By Rebekah Sungala 3 min read

Laurel Highlands School Board approved a tentative $40 million budget for the 2007-08 school year Wednesday that includes no tax increase. People who own property in the district currently pay 13 mills in taxes.

At that rate, district residents pay $130 for every $10,000 in assessed value. A person whose property is valued at $50,000 would pay $650 in taxes, whereas a person whose property is valued at $100,000 would pay $1,300 in taxes.

The school board will hold a meeting at 7 p.m. June 28 at the high school to adopt the final $40,416,631 budget.

Included in the tentative budget is $37.4 million in expected revenue and a $2.9 million fund balance, which equals $40.4 million.

Expenditures for the 2007-08 school year are estimated at $40.4 million.

Before the school board approved the tentative budget, Dr. Ronald Sheba, superintendent, advised board members the budget they were approving was a no-tax increase budget balanced by using the $2.9 million fund balance.

Sheba told board members they may have to consider a tax increase in the near future.

“I know that the board doesn’t want a tax increase, but if you don’t want a tax increase this year, you need to consider it in the near future,” he said.

Sheba said the $40 million tentative budget is “sound” but said the school district can’t continue to balance the budget by pulling money from the fund balance, which is money saved for emergencies and capital improvements.

According to Sheba, there’s no room in the budget to pay for “big ticket items” such as renovating the high school, which is something that will need done in the near future.

There has also been discussion as to whether artificial turf should be installed on the football field, another costly item.

Because of Act 1, school districts can only increase taxes by a certain amount each year. Sheba said board members need to take Act 1 regulations into consideration when planning for the future.

According to the tentative budget, estimated expenditures went up $3.7 million from the 2006-07 school year to the 2007-08 school year, largely due to contractual issues involving salaries, healthcare and related issues.

School director Angelo Giachetti said he’s afraid to raise taxes, noting that several property owners already have a difficult time paying them.

The school board approved the tentative budget 6 to 0, with three absent. School directors Giachetti, James Burns, Mary Conway, Palmer Sabatine, Jim Tobal and Bill Elias voted yes, approving the budget. School directors Cathy Rice, Edward S. George and Beverly Beal were not present.