Brownsville school directors discuss rescinding tax increase
BROWNSVILLE — Legal counsel for the Brownsville Area School Board told directors Thursday that it would be possible to rescind a property tax increase if they chose to do so.
At last month’s meeting, Director Andy Dorsey asked the board members to entertain a possible motion to rescind the 3.5-mill tax increase that was set by the district in June.
Dorsey said he had received misleading information regarding the use of the tax increase after he voted in June, and wanted the district solicitor to investigate whether or not the board could legally rescind the motion.
“Courts go both ways on the issue, but more courts have found that boards could rescind a tax increase,” the district’s solicitor, Jim Davis of Davis and Davis Attorneys at Law, said on Thursday. “But you would have to go back to the original rate before the increase and not somewhere in between.”
Dorsey expressed concern at Thursday’s board meeting, telling directors that the district has put back much of the cuts that were made to balance the budget.
“We were given wrong information two years ago,” Dorsey said. “We were told that the 3.5-mill increase was court mandated to cover the unfunded debt and that the more than $1 million in cuts were used to balance the budget.”
But Dorsey said that since the June meeting much of the cuts have been reinstated, including the recall of two previously furloughed music teachers, without explanations regarding from where the funding came.
Dr. Phil Savini, district superintendent, said some of the funding surfaced through an audit that revealed the district was owed $50,000 from the state, which funded such things as the hiring of a band director and helped to reinstate the district’s responsibility of paying for transportation for athletic events and helped with other budgetary items.
District business manager Mike Gigliotti said that the tax increase was split into three parts, including .27 mills that was based on the index, which under state law, was the highest the district could raise taxes without exceptions. But because of outstanding unfunded debt and an increase in retirement rates, the district was eligible to raise taxes above the index. Gigliotti said that 2.86 mills came from the debt exception and .36 mills was the retirement exception.
“They only thing that was true was that there was 16 mills mandated by the court. Only thing we had to do was raise 1.6 mills over 10 years to pay the unfunded debt,” Dorsey said.
No motions were made Thursday to rescind the tax increase.
At the meeting, the board accepted Dorsey’s resignation as treasurer and elected Director Francine Pavone in the position until her term as a school board director ends in December.
“Even though I resigned as treasurer, I still plan to keep an eye on things,” Dorsey said. “But I am very worried for next year at this point.”