Slight tax increase likely for Fox Chapel Area residents
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Fox Chapel Area School District residents might pay slightly more in school taxes in 2021-2022 if a proposed $104 million budget is approved in June.
The school board on Monday night voted to move ahead with the tentative budget which calls for a tax rate of 20.12 mills, a 1.3% increase.
If approved, the owner of a home assessed at $100,000 would pay $2,012, up from $1,986 this year.
The budget is available on the district’s website.
The board is scheduled to discuss the budget during its meetings at 7 p.m. June 8 and June 14, and is expected to vote on the final budget on June 14.
As proposed, the budget calls for total expenses of $104,775,507 and total revenues of $104,664,498. The district plans to balance the budget through a drawdown from the fund balance.
“Yes, we plan to raise taxes but given that it’s below the rate of inflation, it helps to offset our natural growth and expenses even if we made no other change,” board member Adam Goode said.
“There’s been a lot of work done to reduce expenses.”
School leaders said the board plans to use $1.4 million in federal stimulus money for capital projects, summer learning programs and improved technology.
Some of the highlighted expenses the board is facing for next year include a 12% increase in tuition costs to cyber and charter schools, special education facilities and the A.W. Beattie Career Center; a 5% increase for medical insurance premiums and a 7% increase for vision coverage; a 6% increase in costs for the Public School Employees’ Retirement System (PSERS) employer contribution rate.
“The contribution to PSERS continues to be a challenge for all school districts in Pennsylvania,” district Coordinator of Communications Bonnie Berzonski said.
She said the the employer contribution rate is set by PSERS trustees, not by the district, and that the district expects to pay nearly $45 million in PSERS contributions over the next five years.
Board member Amy Cooper supports the modest increases but said the board needs to look at long-term costs and learn to live within the means of the district.
“We bring in a large amount of money and we need to find ways to align that with the values of the district,” Cooper said.
“A lot of work went into making this a more balanced budget and it came at a cost of some of the programs so I would encourage more long-term planning.”
Board member Vanessa Lynch said it is a problem for her that the district’s expenditures are outpacing the revenues so much so that the board is using a fund balance drawdown combined with a tax increase to balance the budget.
“I’m concerned that it’s not sustainable,” Lynch said. “I’m also concerned that if we don’t rectify it we’re going to have a real problem.”
Resident Kelly Strain opposed the tax increase.
“I don’t agree with you about raising taxes just because you have a budget deficit,” she said. “If our district is concerned about taxes, the higher-ups need to have a pay freeze.
“Every penny we bring into this house is work we do to provide for our family. Even $26 is a little over a doctor’s co-pay, a small amount of food or a half tank of gas.”