Retirement contribution increases impacting local school budgets
2013-14 School budgets
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One mill is equal to $1 of tax for every $1,000 of assessed property value. To calculate your tax, multiply the millage figure by your assessed property value. Don't forget to add three decimal places to the millage figure to get the accurate tax. For example,a 5-mill increase on a home assessed at $20,000 amounts to 0.005 times $20,000 or $100 more in taxes.
Posted: Friday, July 5, 2013 1:30 pm | Updated: 4:49 pm, Fri Jul 5, 2013.
Posted on July 5, 2013
Property tax rates in the Bensalem, Bristol, Neshaminy and Pennsbury school districts will stay at their current levels in 2013-14, according to budgets recently adopted by area school boards.Average property tax increases in the other Lower Bucks County school districts range from $52.01 in Centennial to $79.52 in Bristol Township, according to the adopted budgets.Local school boards used a variety of measures to keep their respective 2013-14 budgets in check including the reduction of work forces through attrition or staffing cuts, and Pennsbury’s closure of Village Park Elementary School.
A growing concern, according to board members and district administrators, is the increasing amount of money that school systems are being required to contribute to the Pennsylvania School Employees Retirement System.
For instance, Pennsbury will use $1.2 million in 2013-14 from $5 million in reserve funds that have been set aside to help pay for the increasing contributions, spokeswoman Ann Langtry said.
Pennsbury will pay approximately $15.5 million toward retirement costs this school year, compared with $11.4 million in 2012-13, Langtry said. District officials estimate the contribution will jump to $19.6 million in 2014-15.
Other area districts also are bracing for escalated contributions, including Council Rock, which anticipates having to pay $32.7 million to the public employee retirement system by 2016-17.
The state reimburses a district half of the respective contribution it makes each year. Despite that, the 2013-14 contribution was still the single biggest increase in expenses for Pennsbury, Langtry said.
The new budgets took effect July 1. School districts began mailing out the tax bills at the beginning of the month, officials said.
Eligible property owners will see an exemption credit on their respective bills. The credit is from state gaming revenues, as called for in the state’s Property Tax Relief Act known as Act 1.
The state divided $611.6 million in revenue collected from casinos across Pennsylvania to send to school districts to cover the 2013-14 credit assessed to individual property owners.
The 2013-14 credits for Lower Bucks districts range from $152 in Centennial to $272 in Bristol Township and are generally about the same as the 2012-13 credit amounts.
Local districts shaped their budgets within the taxing restraints established by Act 1.
It allowed most districts to raise millage rates a maximum of 1.7 percent more than the 2012-13 tax rate. However, Bristol Township was able to raise its millage rate 2.2 percent.
The index rates are determined by averaging the statewide average weekly wage with employment cost index data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, state officials said.
A growing concern, according to board members and district administrators, is the increasing amount of money that school systems are being required to contribute to the Pennsylvania School Employees Retirement System.
For instance, Pennsbury will use $1.2 million in 2013-14 from $5 million in reserve funds that have been set aside to help pay for the increasing contributions, spokeswoman Ann Langtry said.
Pennsbury will pay approximately $15.5 million toward retirement costs this school year, compared with $11.4 million in 2012-13, Langtry said. District officials estimate the contribution will jump to $19.6 million in 2014-15.
Other area districts also are bracing for escalated contributions, including Council Rock, which anticipates having to pay $32.7 million to the public employee retirement system by 2016-17.
The state reimburses a district half of the respective contribution it makes each year. Despite that, the 2013-14 contribution was still the single biggest increase in expenses for Pennsbury, Langtry said.
The new budgets took effect July 1. School districts began mailing out the tax bills at the beginning of the month, officials said.
Eligible property owners will see an exemption credit on their respective bills. The credit is from state gaming revenues, as called for in the state’s Property Tax Relief Act known as Act 1.
The state divided $611.6 million in revenue collected from casinos across Pennsylvania to send to school districts to cover the 2013-14 credit assessed to individual property owners.
The 2013-14 credits for Lower Bucks districts range from $152 in Centennial to $272 in Bristol Township and are generally about the same as the 2012-13 credit amounts.
Local districts shaped their budgets within the taxing restraints established by Act 1.
It allowed most districts to raise millage rates a maximum of 1.7 percent more than the 2012-13 tax rate. However, Bristol Township was able to raise its millage rate 2.2 percent.
The index rates are determined by averaging the statewide average weekly wage with employment cost index data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, state officials said.
8 comments:
Morrisville's is the only budget that went down vs. last year.
Good catch. The fact that spending went down but taxes went up underscores how prior budgets relied on using the fund balance (piggy bank) to balance without raising taxes. Holding taxes down like that was an illusion that can't be performed anymore because the piggy bank is essentially empty. It was over $3 million just a few years ago.
I think the average tax bill listed for Morrisville in the table is a typo. It says $2,345.65. It should be $3,245.65.
The gift that keeps on giving. The fiscal wonders of Hellman C.P.A. and his angry band of sheeple never cease to amaze. The joke is on us. It's not funny.
What's amazing is they never see waste, incompetence and deception where it exists the most: in the mirror.
Let's get Stay on Track candidate Ron Stout to explain officially on the record why he supported this fiscal freight train of doom. He's running for re-election and after four years of service, he is obviously knowledgeable in the process.
I wonder if Ron Stout even knows that he is running for re-election?
I wonder if Ron Stout even knows how he voted on the budget at the last school board meeting.
How did he vote on the budget? He didn't just grunt no like usual?
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