Laurel Highlands OKs tax increase, budget
Laurel Highlands School District residents will pay more in property tax next year.
In a 5-4 vote, the district’s board of education approved a 0.5-mill increase at Monday’s meeting.
Board President Marcus DiNunno said the rise to 21.6744 mills was proposed to stave off the need for larger increases down the road. The increase would mean about $50 more in taxes on a home valued at about $100,000, district staff said.
DiNunno said based on initial discussions with board members, it seemed unlikely an increase would be proposed.
“But a couple of us felt strongly enough that it should be on there, because you don’t want to get down the road a few years and have to make some really drastic changes and really hard decisions to be made,” he said.
DiNunno voted for the increase, along with Matthew George, Kenneth Meadows, William Elias and Miranda Novak. Olivia Conway, Debbie Cunningham, Joe D’Andrea and Tom Landman voted against.
George said the increase was necessary to avoid further financial problems. The district had been able to reduce its deficit through attrition, with 17 teachers retiring at the end of the year. Further improvements came from an additional $1 million in revenue for the district through the state budget, and a one-time vocational technology rebate.
“Even after all that, after all the attempts we made to cut the budget, we are still falling short,” he said. “If we weren’t able to get those retirements and to not replace those teachers, we would be looking at a $3.5 million deficit.”
The board also unanimously approved the 2025-26 budget of $64,167,184.88, presented before the vote on the property tax.
DiNunno said alternate options had been developed with and without the tax increase.
Had the increase not passed, he said, the district would have had to plug a $750,000 deficit by using the district’s fund balance. The district has $1.8 million, versus the recommended $6 million to $8 million for a district the size of Laurel Highlands, DiNunno said.
“If we were to use $750,000 of that $1.8 (million), we’d be going in the next year with very little funds,” he said.
Other board members said they preferred the district look harder at potential cuts before raising taxes.
“I worked with this district for 26 years, retired last year, and I’ve seen a lot of wasted spending, and that’s why I ran to get on here and try to stop some of it,” said Cunningham. “I agree with Mr. George; we’ve done a lot, but we need to do a lot more.”
Landman said the increase would hurt residents living on a fixed income in the district.
“I feel we have a number of people in our school district here on fixed income right now,” he said. “The cost of everything is going through the roof, the cost of groceries, the cost of gas, everything is going up.”