posted by Mike Madison at 11:47 AM /
The Mt. Lebanon High School Renovation weblog has its own official feed:
http://blog.mtlsd.org/highschoolrenovation/feed2.xml
or find a suitable feed at the blog itself.
This is an indispensable resource for everyone with an interest in the renovation/replacement discussion.
http://blog.mtlsd.org/highschoolrenovation/feed2.xml
or find a suitable feed at the blog itself.
This is an indispensable resource for everyone with an interest in the renovation/replacement discussion.
9 Comments:
I encourage you to read the renovation blog and post your thoughts. I've seen the same handful of posters there (including me) and some fresh responses are needed. Anonymous Mom of 3
Question. Is there anywhere on that blog (or anywhere else) that would state how much our individual school taxes would go up?
For example, if I'm paying $400 a month in school taxes, this would increase to:
1. $410 a month for partial renovation
2. $430 a month for xxx
3. $500 a month for complete redo
This would be valuable info.
The school district property tax rate is currently 23.56 mills.
For each mill, a property owner pays $1 in property taxes for every $1,000 in assesed value, so a homeowner with an assessed value of $100,000 pays $100 in taxes for every mill.
This same homeowner ($100,000 assessed value) pays $2,356 ($100 x 23.56) in annual school district property taxes.
FYI: for the school district, one mill generates +/- $2,000,000 in property tax revenue.
Now to the question of what the high school renovation could mean to our tax bills. Directionally speaking, because variables such as the use of fund balance and/or the specifics of the financing terms can effect this simple analysis:
One mill will support +/- $25,000,000 in new debt for the school district.
A $75,000,000 project would cost about three mills, or $300 per year on our $100,000 home.
A $100,000,000 project would cost about four mills, or $400 per year on our $100,000 home. (or roughly $65 a month, on the $400 monthly tax bill from the posting above)
Botton Line:
Something needs to be done at the High School and the options vary greatly in terms of project scope, cost and most importantly sustained and enhanced educational excellence. No doubt - our commitment to education makes up much of the fabric of our community. Therefore everyone has a stake in our children's educational success and should be engaged in this critical decision. Let's get it right!
(This doesn't mean we should spend the most money, just - - Let's get it right!)
EXCELLLENT INFO BILL, THANKS!
I think it would be great for everybody in Lebo to realize this. They could probably give out basic figures ($100K, $150K, $200K, $250K, etc)
I think this may help people decide. This information should not be hidden.
Anonymous father of anonymous # of children.
Thank you Bill Mathews for the clear and concise information. I am going to print this so I can
refer to it when needed.
Educational achievement is driven by: a) Students, b) Family, c) Faculty, d) Administration or e) Bricks and Mortar
A, B, C and D appear to be the critical factors. The article in today's Post Gazette about Mt Lebanon leading public schools in SW PA in SAT scores, makes me wonder how important "E" is. Will we be off the charts by spending money on a new High School or will it not move the needle? We are doing pretty well with our crummy, old, hard to get around, leaky window building.
Regarding those figures, once the project is paid off, do the taxes then go back down, or do they have free reign on all that money since it was already approved.
Once a project is paid off, the revenue "bookmarked" for debt service is available to the General Fund - for normal operating expenses. 20 or 30 years in the future this might be just enough to offset the normal “year over year” increase in operating expenses and a tax increase could be thwarted. On the other hand, if the newly available funds exceed the normal increase, I would think the Community would receive a tax decrease. A third alternative is that future bond issues will absorb these funds.
Bill,
Our debt service is approximately $5,000,000 per year now; the high school will be above $3,000,000 in additional debt service. I hope $8,000,000 is not "just enough to offset the normal “year over year” increase in operating expenses."
Post a Comment
<< Home