SHENANDOAH — The Shenandoah Valley school board tentatively adopted its 2016-17 fiscal year budget that includes a real estate tax increase of 2.085 mills to deal with a deficit due to pension cost increases and lack of funding from state and federal sources.
The proposed general operating budget plan of $18,124,150 includes an increase of $346,599, or 1.95 percent, over the budget in the current fiscal year — $17,777,551 — that will end June 30.
Real estate taxes will increase from 54.89 to 56.975 mills. Each mill brings in about $73,000.
“At this point this is tentative. It is not the final budget,” district Acting Superintendent/Business Manager Anthony P. Demalis Jr. said. “The budget as proposed, and it will probably end up changing somewhat, is 1.95 percent higher than last year.”
Demalis said there are expenses that have increased in which the school district has no control.
“It’s real simple,” Demalis said. “The PSERS (Public School Employees’ Retirement System) retirement rate is jumping to 30.03 percent. That is how much of the salary goes into retirement that we’re paying. It was 25.84 percent. That increase is $351,835, so pretty much all of our budget increase is PSERS. There are other pieces of the pie going up and down, but that is the biggest piece. At least 60 percent of our millage is to cover the deficit in special education. By deficit, I mean the difference of the special education expense versus the special education subsidy, and that’s by law.”
Demalis said, “We were running a deficit last year and we budgeted a deficit this year. So the board doesn’t have much choice but to raise taxes. We underfunded — that’s what it is. We’ve been consistently running deficits. We have a fund balance that keeps getting eaten away. It’s a good thing we had a fund balance.”
As for the cost to property owners, Demalis said the median assessed value — 50 percent of the actual market value — in Shenandoah is $7,740 per property, which comes to a increase of $16.14.
“What that means is that half of the taxpayers will be $16.14 or less and the other half will pay more than $16.14,” Demalis said.
In West Mahanoy Township, the median assessed value is $16,790, with the median increase at $35.01, with half paying that much or less and the other half paying more.
The following tax schedule has no changes from the current fiscal year. Taxes marked as “shared” are divided for distribution, with 50 percent to the school district and the remainder to the school district’s municipalities — Shenandoah and West Mahanoy Township.
• Earned income tax (Act 511) — One percent (shared). Levied on salaries, wages, commissions and other compensation.
• Realty transfer tax (Act 511) — One percent (shared).
• Per capita tax — $5 (As per Section 579).
• Per capita tax — $5 (As per Section 511).
• Local services tax — $5.
• Occupational assessment — $50 (As per Section 579).
• Five percent tax upon gross of any person/entity engaging in culm processing business.
• Ash disposal fee of $5 per ton for any cogeneration facility, person, persons or other entity engaging in the activity in the school district.
The vote was 6-2 for the tentative adoption on a motion from board Vice President Thomas F. Twardzik, seconded by board President Daniel Salvadore. There was a lengthy discussion among the board members before the vote was taken.
“As long as the state does not give this district money it has coming, we cannot afford to continue to raise taxes to support the state’s inability of the Legislature to pass a budget and put the burden on the local taxpayers and keep themselves from getting the heat,” board member Richard Zimmerman said. “I can’t go along with that.”
“I understand, Mr. Zimmerman,” Salvadore said.
“It should be noted that it is a preliminary vote on the upcoming budget and we’ll be returning in June to formalize it, and if at that time we do not want to go to the index, it can be lowered,” board Secretary Karen Kayes said.
Twardzik asked, “Does this tax increase make up the deficit?”
Demalis said it did not.
At the meeting start, Demalis read a four-page letter from the school district to be sent to Gov. Tom Wolf and the state Legislature speaking of the difficulties Shenandoah Valley and other school districts are dealing with due to lack of proper funding of education.
“I strongly urge as many people from the public to contact our legislators because, truly at this time, they don’t have a budget but we have to have a budget,” board member Margaret Shustack said. “The legislators right now are now putting their jobs and responsibilities on board members of school districts, and in return it is only going to harm only the children and that education they are certainly entitled to through public funding. The legislators and the governor are truly are not going to be allowing our kids to get the education that they really should be getting.”
“So we operated through the year with a budget from the state,” Twardzik said, “and we’re not even sure what money we can count on in 2015-16, and in 2016-17 there is no reason to imagine that we’re going to have a budget. So we’ll flying blind again with guesses and assumptions, and they (local legislators) are all running unopposed. We haven’t had a budget for two years and they’re running unopposed.”
Another issue raised was how the state funding is determined, as larger school districts with more local resources are receiving greater funding than the smaller and poorer districts.
“We are getting money, but it’s not enough and we can’t make it up on our own,” Twardzik said.
When put to a vote, voting against were Zimmerman and Shustack. Voting in favor were Salvadore, Twardzik, Kayes, Joseph Buchanan, Helene Creasy and Anita Monaghan. Absent was Joseph Alshefski.
In other business, the school board:
• Approved a board committee recommendation of a 10-day out of school suspension for a student.
• Approved the Schuylkill County Guest Teacher Program/New Emergency Certification List.
• Approved the following snow make-up dates: May 6 for Feb. 16 (now a student day, previously Act 80); June 3 for May 6 (now an Act 80 Day, previously in-service for teachers) and June 6 for June 3 (now an in-service day that was previously a day off).
• Approved cash transfer for summer lunches of $20,000.
• Approved a list of computer equipment to be disposed.
• Approved the resignations of junior high cheerleading coach Nina Delluso and volleyball coach Leanne Hall.
• Approved coaching bonuses for boys’ and girls’ basketball coaches. The head coaches get an additional $75 per week and two assistant coaches for each program get an additional $50 per week for a maximum of three weeks.
“So the head coach got $225 total and the assistants got a total of $150 each,” Demalis said. “So the total bonuses for the boys is $525 and the same for the girls.”
• Accepted resignations from cafeteria aides Catherine Guers and Darlene Monlish.
• Approved appointments of Samantha Rudloff, kitchen aide/floater; Kathleen Sierdzinsky, permanent lunch aide; Arielle Garcia, secondary special education aide: Kathy Luciani, kindergarten aide; and Christine Florio, substitute teacher aide, pending receipt of clearances.
• Approved posting and advertising for elementary cafeteria servers and cafeteria substitutes.