School Board to Increase Property Taxes by 1.7 Percent

The West Chester Area School Board voted to approve the proposed budget for the 2012-2013 school year that includes a 1.7 percent property tax increase Monday night.

“That paints a bleak picture,” said school board member Sean Carpenter after a slideshow depicting the district’s financial health.  “A lot of the cost drivers are out of our control; however, we want to continue to look for savings.”

“I think it’s a fair budget,” said district superintendent Dr. Jim Scanlon.  “It’s a difficult budget.”

For the 2012-13 school the district will have an operating budget of around $202 million with 63 percent of that money going towards staff salary and benefits.

The next highest cost will the $25.2 million the district will pay in debt service followed by the $20.4 million the district pays in tuitions to charter schools and educational contractors.

“I want to thank the administrative staff who worked hard not just this year, but the last two years,” Scanlon said.  “We’ve worked as to be as efficient as possible.”

Residents of the district will see the millage rate increase to 18.67 when the budget is adopted.  The average tax bill is expected to increase by $58, while the average commercial tax bill will increase by $271.

On average a West Chester School District homeowner will pay a yearly tax bill of $3,544, while a commercial landowner will pay $16,196.

Going into the budget process, the district faced a $3.8 million deficit.  The school board closed the gap by increasing taxes, instituting activity fees and allowing advertising in schools.

The district will also save money by eliminating non-teaching positions like custodians, and also by using cheaper software.

The district will also use $1.37 million of reserve funds to help close the budget gap for the 2012-13 school year.

Despite the success of this year’s budget process, the district as a whole still remains in dire financial shape with projected cumulative deficits to reach $22.6 million by the 2015-16 school year.

“Eventually, the Act 1 tax increase will not be enough,” Scanlon said.

Over the next several years mandated contributions to the district’s pension fund will swell to $18.7 million.

In 2001, the state required the school district to contribute only one percent of the money in pension funds.  In 2012-13, that number will be 12.3 percent, and by 2015-16 that number will grow to 25 percent.

“You need to contact your legislators,” said board member Ed Coyle.  “They need to reform the pension program.”

“Our revenues are expected to remain flat,” said Dr. Suzanne Moore of the district’s business administration office.  “Despite that we will see dramatic increases in pension and health care costs.”

Board member Maureen Snook added, “We need to continue containing our costs.”

The school board approved the budget and the tax increase with an 8-1 vote.  Snook was the single “no” vote.