Posted: Thursday, June 27, 2013 4:52 pm | Updated: 6:46 pm, Thu Jun 27, 2013.
Even after cutting expenses by 2.78 percent, the Morrisville School District needs to increase taxes by 1.7 percent to balance its budget for the 2013-14 school year.Expressing regret, most of the school board approved a budget that will increase taxes by $54 for the average property owner. That means the owner of a property assessed at the borough average of $18,000 will pay about $3,245 in school taxes next year. The millage will be 180.314 mills.
The spending plan calls for a $17.5-million budget for the 2013-14 school year, down from the $18-million budget from the 2012-13 year.
This will be the first increase in five years. During those years, money from the district's savings account was used to balance the budgets. Those withdrawals have left that account with $90,000, down from $3 million.
To balance the budget and have the least educational impact on students, the administration came up with cost-saving ideas that included shuffling positions.
“It really was teamwork, from custodians to the board,” Superintendent Bill Ferrara said.
In one of those cost-cutting measures, Ferrara also will serve as the district’s K-12 principal. Acting secondary principal Donald Harm is retiring, and last year, the elementary principal left the district.
Instead of replacing Harm, the administration is adding a third dean. One of the two existing deans replaced the elementary principal. The dean positions have been filled by Morrisville teachers who have administrative certifications for the job. They continue to receive their pay as teachers, with an additional $5,000 stipend each a year.
Having three deans prevented the furlough of three teachers, Ferrara said, because the last three teachers hired by the district would have been laid off if the deans had returned to their teaching duties.
Other key cost-saving measures include:
This will be the first increase in five years. During those years, money from the district's savings account was used to balance the budgets. Those withdrawals have left that account with $90,000, down from $3 million.
To balance the budget and have the least educational impact on students, the administration came up with cost-saving ideas that included shuffling positions.
“It really was teamwork, from custodians to the board,” Superintendent Bill Ferrara said.
In one of those cost-cutting measures, Ferrara also will serve as the district’s K-12 principal. Acting secondary principal Donald Harm is retiring, and last year, the elementary principal left the district.
Instead of replacing Harm, the administration is adding a third dean. One of the two existing deans replaced the elementary principal. The dean positions have been filled by Morrisville teachers who have administrative certifications for the job. They continue to receive their pay as teachers, with an additional $5,000 stipend each a year.
Having three deans prevented the furlough of three teachers, Ferrara said, because the last three teachers hired by the district would have been laid off if the deans had returned to their teaching duties.
Other key cost-saving measures include:
- Full-day kindergarten is being reduced to a half-day program.
- Special education students will be schooled in the district based on their Individualized Education Programs rather than sent to out-of-district programs.
- Anthony Gesualdi, supervisor of special education/pupil services, won't return to his $130,000 position. However, the district will use him as a consultant as long as his fees don't exceed $100,000.
- The positions of maintenance manager and public relations director are being eliminated.
- A professional employee has been furloughed.
11 comments:
Hit?
Shouldn't it be Slammed? Lambasted? Bludgeoned? Assaulted? Annihilated? Nuclear Holocausted?
Taxpocalypsed?
Librarians aren't feeling the love anywhere.
Allentown schools cut 151 jobs, including all five of its elementary librarians along with 19 middle-school related arts teachers.
http://www.mcall.com/news/breaking/mc-allentown-schools-final-budget-20130627,0,7917258.story
Morrisville is in good shape compared to districts surrounding us. Im good with 54
I'm interested in seeing some credible data on where Morrisville ranks in PA with respect to tax rates - municipal, school district, and combined. Got anything laying around?
People throw around how we're the highest in PA, 2nd highest in PA, not in the Top 10, my 3rd cousin's friend says we're the lowest, etc. I'm not disputing that Morrisville is up there in terms of tax burden. I just want to see some real data. Can someone post some good links?
For example, the link below from PDE’s website leads you to a spreadsheet that includes “Equalized Mills” (Column I) for School District Taxes (click on 2010-11 under “Miscellaneous”).
In Equalized Mills, Morrisville SD ranks 109 out of 500 in PA.
I figure Equalized Mills is a better measure than “raw” mills because, well, here’s the definition:
Equalized mills - A standardized millage calculated by dividing a school district’s total taxes collected and remitted by its total market value as certified by the Pennsylvania State Tax Equalization Board. A district's publicized millage rate is applied to the assessed value of its real estate, which may or may not reflect actual market values. Equalized mills express tax rates as a percentage of market value. They are used to provide realistic comparisons of actual (i.e., market-value) tax efforts across district lines.
http://www.education.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt/community/financial_data_elements/7672
Jon, that's a better metric than raw millage, but what I'd really like to see is millage as a percentage of income or wealth. People can't eat their property value. I suspect Morrisville is somewhere in the middle.
That can be misleading too. Some of our citizens' wealth may be tied up in lawsuits. They might not be able to eat their property value, but they can certainly eat my shorts.
We ma have high school tax, but we don't have a 1% + Local Income Tax like many towns do.
Good point. Liars and low information ideologues will continue to do their thing, as they always have. The trend, on the School Board at least, is towards getting good, accurate information and making good, balanced, though sometimes tough, decisions based on it, and communicating it to the public. I want to see that trend continue.
http://munstatspa.dced.state.pa.us/ReportViewer.aspx?R=EitWithCollector&county_id=090001&reporting_year=2012&report_type=O&rendering=H
Thanks for the link. So, in Bucks County alone, the following municipalities have earned income taxes. All are between 1% and 1.75%, except Bristol Twp. (0.5%). If your household income is $50,000, a 1% tax is $500, which in Morrisville is equivalent to 25-30 more mills for the average homeowner. Lucky enough to make $100,000? That's $1,000 (50-60 mills). So, yes, that can be a very significant factor.
Bedminster Twp.
Bridgeton Twp.
Bristol Twp.
Buckingham Twp.
Chalfont Boro
Doylestown Boro
Doylestown Twp.
Dublin Boro
Durham Twp.
East Rockhill Twp.
Haycock Twp.
Hilltown Twp.
Ivyland Boro
Lower Southampton Twp.
Milford Twp.
New Britain Boro
New Britain Twp.
New Hope Boro
Newtown Boro
Newtown Twp.
Nockamixon Twp.
Northampton Twp.
Perkasie Boro
Interesting. Most towns also charge a local services tax (LST) anywhere from $5 to $52.
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