Brownsville school board passes budget with no tax increase
BROWNSVILLE — The Brownsville Area School Board adopted a 2014-15 budget that does not raise taxes but uses the district’s entire fund balance of nearly $2 million to balance the spending plan.
The $26.84 million budget narrowly passed in a 5-4 vote Monday.
Real estate tax rates will remain 16.32 mills for Fayette County property owners and 98.27 mills for Washington County property owners.
Revenue is estimated at $24.93 million and the district’s $1.92 million fund balance was used to balance revenue and expenditures.
The budget is less than a proposed $27.29 million preliminary budget that was discussed, but not adopted, in May.
Board member Richard Gates commended board members and administrators for cutting expenses but said he did not support using the entire fund balance.
“I’m not in favor of using all of the fund balance,” Gates said. “It’s not our fault we’re in this position. It’s Harrisburg’s fault.”
Gates and other board members said Gov. Tom Corbett is at fault for reducing school subsidies.
“There’s nothing else to cut,” Board President R.W. Brashear said.
He said the board worked hard for four years to build the fund balance.
A reduction in the assessed value of property in the Washington County portion of the district hurt the district’s finances, board member Jeffery Bayne said.
Other board members said the loss of six homes due to a railroad construction project in West Brownsville also impacted the district’s budget.
The tight budget will place the district’s sports programs in jeopardy, Bayne said.
Board members John Harvey, Andy Assad, Ronald Dellarose, Bayne and Brashear voted in favor of the budget. Board members Andy Dorsey, Gary Seelye, Cheryl Terravecchia and Gates voted against it.
Superintendent Philip Savini Jr. said two new programs will be in place for the next school year despite the tight budget.
He commended staff members for applying for grants to fund the programs.
One is a gaming program that will teach students how to write software for Xbox and PlayStation computer games.
The district also received a $175,000 grant to enhance its distance learning and video conferencing technology. Savini said the technology will allow the district to work with school around the world.
In other business, the board:
n Voted 7-2 to raise the school lunch price by 25 cents and the breakfast price by 10 cents for the next school year. The increase was required for districts that charged less than $2.65 for lunches during the 2013-14 school year.
n Accepted retirements of John Dan Kupets, high school manufacturing technology teacher; Teresa Kurth, a Title 1 teacher at Central Elementary School; and Veronica Bloom, a second-grade teacher at Cox-Donahey Elementary School.
n Added Amanda Bilitski, Sarah Gabehart, Laura Seelye and Mavis Short to the professional substitutes list.
n Agreed to offer early retirement incentives to employees covered by the Brownsville Education Association collective bargaining agreement.
n Hired Diamond Marketing Solutions to print the real estate and per capita tax bills and tax duplicates for $5,325.
n Purchased workers compensation insurance through Gallagher Insurance for $101,856.
n Purchased auto, umbrella and errors and omission insurance through Gallagher for $104,263.