3 school districts receive state OK to raise taxes above index
Three Fayette County school districts that applied to have the option of raising real estate taxes beyond the limit set by the state received approval this week to exceed the index.
According to the Department of Education, Uniontown Area, Laurel Highlands and Albert Gallatin Area school districts were three of the 199 districts across the state that were granted approval for exceptions under the Act 1, Taxpayer Relief Act of 2006, which sets a cap on how much a district can raise taxes.
No other Fayette County school district applied for the exception for the 2012-13 school year.
Each September, the Department of Education calculates a school district’s index for the following school year. Districts have two options to increase tax rates above the index: seek an exception from the Department of Education or request approval from the voters by placing a referendum question on the primary ballot.
For the 2012-13 school year, Uniontown Area’s index is set at 2.4 percent, or about .34 mills, and the district was granted a 3.34 millage increase above the index. The index for Albert Gallatin is set at 2.6 percent of the current 12.49 mills, and the district was approved for a .6 millage increase above that cap. Laurel Highlands’ index is set at 2.4 percent of the district’s current 14.21 millage rate and received referendum exception for 1 mill above the index.
A mill equals $1 for every $1,000 of assessed property value, which means the owner of property assessed at $50,000 would pay $50 for each mill levied a year.
Although the districts were approved to exceed the index, it does not guarantee that school officials will vote to enact the allowable maximum tax rate, but gives them the option to do so as they adopt their final budgets in June.
Prior to being amended in June 2011, Act 1 permitted 10 referendum exceptions. However, in June of last year, Gov. Tom Corbett signed into law changes that reduced the number of exceptions to three: school construction that was undertaken prior to the effective date of the law or approved by the voters; special education expenditures; and retirement contributions.