Laurel Highlands School Board passes budget
It is going to be good news and then bad news for property owners living in the Laurel Highlands School District.
On Thursday, the Laurel Highlands School Board passed a $50.63 million budget for the 2017-18 school year, nearly $200,000 less than a preliminary budget it agreed to about a month ago.
To get to that amount, the board opted to not fill four vacant positions, which includes not hiring a librarian for Laurel Highlands Middle School. Plus, the district borrowed $428,236 from its construction fund to fill any potential holes.
Property taxes will remain at 16.756 mills, but board member Ira Chrise said taxes will have to go up next year because there are no more surpluses to muse. The district received $21.23 million from local taxes; $25.3 million from the state and $1.4 million from the federal government.
“I would encourage the board to pass an incremental tax increase,” said Chrise before the board voted to approve the budget. Chrise, who voted against the budget along with board member, Alicia Santore, said an incremental tax increase will ease the shock of a large tax increase the following year.
“You are putting off things that are going to come back and bite you,” he said.
“We have been doing this by the skin of our teeth for a couple of years now,” said board member Debra Bortz. “We are going to have to raise taxes next year. Let this be a warning.”
In other business, the board accepted the retirement of Robert Costello, a business teach at the high school. Costello had been with the district for 24 years.