Brownsville – Taxes may stay at state limits after potentially costly oversight
Taxes may stay at state limits after potentially costly oversight
Taxes in the Brownsville Area School District may be held at the state index after officials discovered guidelines were not followed properly to file exceptions to exceed the state mandated limits.
Andy Dorsey, head of the school board’s finance committee, told directors Tuesday that while Brownsville qualified for most of the exceptions allowed by the state, the oversight could cost the district a million in revenue after some steps in the process were missed.
“The board was never told that there were changes in the guidelines. The proper paperwork for the exceptions wasn’t filed and we didn’t have the proper advertising after we voted to exceed the index at the Feb. 16 meeting,” Dorsey said.
A school district that adopts a preliminary budget by Feb. 16, with real estate taxes that exceed its index as set by the Pennsylvania Department of Education each September, may seek approval for referendum exceptions to increase tax rates by more than its adjusted index through Act 1, or Taxpayers Relief Act.
The board had originally voted on a tentative budget in January that called for a 4.5 millage increase for Fayette County residents and an increase for Washington County residents setting their millage at 93.47 mills.
But Dorsey said some missed steps were found then and the directors had to revote on the same budget on Feb. 16.
“We thought we had caught everything we needed by Feb. 16,” he said. “Certain other exemptions needed to be filed by the business manager prior to that date or at that time to go over the index. It should have been done already by then. The same thing happened last year and cost us a million dollars then. Now it could cost us another million.”
The district has been operating without a business manager since January. The PDE has set the tax increase index for Brownsville at .77 mills.
During the meeting, the board approved the hiring of new district business manager Michael Gigliotti, whose first task will involve working with PDE in the hopes the district can proceed with the tax increase over the state limits, Dorsey said.
In a 6-2 vote, Gigliotti was hired under a 5-year contract with a starting salary of $74,500 with an annual raise of $2,800. Directors Dorsey, Ron Dellarose, Sandra Chan, Francine Pavone, R.W. “Rocky” Brashear and Andy Assad approved while Nena Kaminsky and Stella Broadwater opposed.
“With the district in the state that it is in, I can’t vote on a 5-year contract,” Broadwater told Gigliotti.
“I don’t know you and you don’t know us, and this is no reflection on you. I just think with a 3-year contract we could see if you are a good fit for this district and if we are a good fit for you.”
Dorsey said while he understands the hesitation to award a 5-year contract, he feels Gigliotti’s credentials make him a good fit for the position.
“We are getting someone with 18 years of experience and a lot of qualifications,” he said.
Director John Harvey was absent from the meeting.
Gigliotti’s employment will officially begin April 1. He is currently the business manager for the Charleroi Area School District and lives in Washington Township.