MORRISVILLE SCHOOLS
Morrisville School District may get away without raising taxes again
Posted: Tuesday, June 26, 2012 5:15 pm | Updated: 7:33 pm, Tue Jun 26, 2012.
By GEMA MARIA DUARTE Staff writer | 0 comments
Posted on June 26, 2012
by Gema Duarte
Morrisville, like surrounding school districts, has been counting its pennies and trying to balance its 2012-13 school budget with a minimal tax hike -- or none at all.
On Wednesday, the board will vote on the final budget, and so far, it looks like borough residents won’t have to fork out any more money for taxes next year.
If the proposed budget passes, the owner of a property assessed at the district's average of $20,820 will pay $3,691 in taxes. One mill is equal to $1 in taxation for every $1,000 of assessed property value. And the millage rate of 177.3 would remain the same.
According to preliminary budget numbers, the school district expects to spend $18 million in the upcoming school year -- a slight increase from the 2011-12 school year budget of $17.22 million.
The district plans to use its fund balance to close a $74,659 budget gap, according to the preliminary budget. In January, the district was facing an $810,392 gap.
Officials said more details on closing that gap will be released Wednesday. If the budget passes, that would mean school taxes in the borough would not have increased since the 2009-10 school year.
An early retirement incentive and severance have been the biggest help in keeping taxes in check, business manager Paul DeAngelo said. Since the 2008-09 school year, 22 teachers have taken early retirement and nine of them have been replaced with lower-paid teachers, he added.
This year, the district has eliminated four administration posts -- one administrative assistant to the superintendent and three business administrative employees -- DeAngelo said.
In recent years, the district has cut other positions, including an assistant principal and the dean of students. Plus, a trainer position now is being outsourced.
7 comments:
"I predict construction will begin to expand Grandview Elementary School this summer."
Marlys Mihok, 5/30/12 BCCT Letter
I don't like paying taxes but no increase in taxes for 3 years straignt seems to go against the laws of nature.
What did the kids loose to keep the taxes the same? I give everyone involved a lot of credit to work hard and make this happen. I'm sure there was some fluff or whatever, but there had to also be some things that were eliminated (or changed for the worse).
Yes, there were.
In other news, below is today's version of the BCCT article for this post. There's a big difference in the middle of the article.
MORRISVILLE SCHOOLS
Morrisville School District may get away without raising taxes again
By GEMA MARIA DUARTE Staff writer | 0 comments
Posted on June 27, 2012
by Gema Duarte
Morrisville, like surrounding school districts, has been counting its pennies and trying to balance its 2012-13 school budget with a minimal tax hike — or none at all.
On Wednesday, the board will vote on the final budget, and so far, it looks like borough residents won’t have to fork out any more money for taxes next year.
If the proposed budget passes, the owner of a property assessed at the district’s average of $20,820 will pay $3,691 in taxes. One mill is equal to $1 in taxation for every $1,000 of assessed property value. And the millage rate of 177.3 would remain the same.
According to preliminary budget numbers, the school district expects to spend $18 million in the upcoming school year — a slight increase from the 2011-12 school year budget of $17.22 million. The budget is larger for next year due to grants, officials said.
“The shortfall is $718,869,” business manager Paul DeAngelo said Tuesday. “We are using fund balance to fill the gap for this year.”
If the budget passes, that would mean school taxes in the borough would not have increased five years.
An early retirement incentive and severance have been the biggest help in keeping taxes in check, DeAngelo said. Since the 2008-09 school year, 22 teachers have taken early retirement and nine of them have been replaced with lower-paid teachers.
“The Early Retirement Incentive Plan was an important part of controlling our salary due to the projected increases in (Public School Employees’ Retirement System) rates,” he said.
This year, the district has eliminated four administration posts — one administrative assistant to the superintendent and three business administrative employees — DeAngelo said.
In recent years, the district has cut other positions, including an assistant principal and the dean of students. Plus, a trainer position now is being outsourced.
The big difference is that in the original article, it says:
"The district plans to use its fund balance to close a $74,659 budget gap, according to the preliminary budget. In January, the district was facing an $810,392 gap."
Now, it says:
“The shortfall is $718,869,” business manager Paul DeAngelo said Tuesday. “We are using fund balance to fill the gap for this year.”
There's a big difference between using $74,659 vs. $718,869 of the Fund Balance. $644,210 to be exact.
This budget cycle was as mysterious as ever. I can see that it's mostly a reflection on the Admin.
Don't apologize for the Morrisville Matters board members and assume the budget cycle was screwed up by administration. If they sign on, then we have to assume they approve. If they don't approve, they need to speak up in public like Robin Reithmeyer. Those are their only choices.
You have a point. The MM folks asked some good questions at last night's board meeting, where the final budget was passed. And they have been asking questions.
My opinion is based more on the unclear explanations I've heard about certain budget items, like Kindergarten. I'm reasonably intelligent, and it was discussed at length again last night, and I still don't understand the full day Kindergarten teaching situation. And certain things seemed to pop up in the middle, like paying teachers now for unused sick time.
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