School board boosts tax rate
Residents in the Uniontown Area School District will see a half a mill increase in real estate taxes this year. The Uniontown Area School Board adopted its final 2010-11 fiscal year budget Tuesday with a property tax increase of .58 mills, pushing the property tax rate up to 14.43 mills or $144.30 for every $10,000 in assessed property value. At that rate, a person with a property valued at $50,000 would pay $721.50 in property taxes.
The final budget was approved 8-0. Board President Vincent Winfrey was absent.
The $40,894,025 budget reflects a $208,902 decrease in the tentative budget approved in May and a 3.4 percent increase over the 2009-10 fiscal year budget.
According to a breakdown of budget totals, $21,703,798.64 will be spent on instruction, $14,007,029.77 will be spent on support services, $616,273 will be spent on non-instructional services and $4,566,923.59 will go toward other financing uses. The federal programs budget stands at $2,043,679.
The board voted approval that all other Act 511 and School Code Taxes remain the same, with Directors Thomas George and Thomas W. Gerke voting against the continuation of the Mercantile Tax Resolution. The motion carried 6-2.
The district currently has a million dollar deficit and board members agreed to find ways to trim costs. Superintendent Dr. Charles Machesky noted that of the 15 teachers who have retired or resigned, only four positions will be filled this year.
“We understand some of the things we can do,” Machesky said on behalf of the board. “We will work very diligently to start to eradicate this debt.
The board unanimously adopted the resolution for the Tax Anticipation Note borrowing for the 2010-11 school term from Centra Bank in the amount of $3,805,611.97 at an interest rate of 1.65 percent.
In other business, the board passed a motion 7-1 to pay outgoing business manager Joseph Nepa $370 a day on a part-time basis to assist the board until a new manager is hired. Director Terry Dawson opposed the move.
Nepa will return to Bethlehem-Center School District after one year as the business manager for Uniontown Area School District. Machesky presented the board with resumes from applicants who had expressed interest in the position last year during the hiring process. He noted all the applicants have business manager experience in public school settings.
During the meeting, the board also approved:
n The rehiring of Carlus Collier Jr. as assistant director of buildings and grounds for the 2010-11 school term at a salary of $52,213
n The resignation of Krista L. Baker as a biology teacher assigned at the high school effective June 28.
n The salary for Judith Means for calling substitutes for teachers, secretaries, clerks and aides at $5,500 for the 2010-11 school term.
n To keep the name of the Margaret A. Emelson Auditorium as is.