The Mt. Lebanon school board approved a $72 million preliminary 2009-2010 budget that calls for a real estate tax hike of .3 mills.
The increase, if approved in the final budget, will mean that taxpayers will pay an additional $30 for each $100,000 in assessed value on their homes, said Finance Director Jan Klein. The new proposed millage rate will be 24.11.
Under state Act 1, which limits the amount of tax increases districts can impose, Mt. Lebanon could have raised taxes by 1 mill. The vote to approve the preliminary budget, taken last week, was 7-1, with school director Mark Hart voting against the plan and school director Ed Kubit absent.
Link: www.post-gazette.com/pg/09113/964805-55.stm
Pages
▼
Friday, April 24, 2009
2 comments:
PLEASE NOTE: On Blog-Lebo, we do not publish anonymous comments. You must put your name to your words. Include your full name in the text of your comment (usually at the end), and you’ll be fine. Or post from a Blogger account having a public profile that includes your full name. Either way will work. But if you don’t include your name, or if we have reason to believe the name on your comment isn’t authentic, we will not be able to publish your comment.
Why must I use my full name?
When you post a comment on Blog-Lebo, you are making a public statement. Therefore, we require that you accept responsibility for your words. Just like at a public meeting of the school board or municipal government, when you stand to speak on Blog-Lebo, you must state your full name. That way, everyone will know who is speaking, and you will know that you’re responsible for what you say.
This is Mr. Allison’s budget – no credit is due the Board. Mr. Allison tackled our historically crummy budget process and has made colossal progress.
ReplyDeleteHOWEVER, we have not heard the last from the School Board. Recall the Board had earlier requested the Finance Director (against her counsel) to prepare an artificially bloated budget requiring a 1.53 mill increase. This preliminary budget was ultimately approved by Mr. Silhol and his band of merry men and women (save Fraasch, Hart and Kubit). The Board's budget was subsequently filed with the Department of Education, officially declaring their direction.
The Board’s budget was about $1.98 million (2.75%) more than Mr. Allison’s final proposal.
The Board still has one more opportunity to enact the tax increase they originally sanctioned. Please keep your seat belts fastened until the budget has come to a complete stop.
If you eliminate six periods of classes and go back to five you need fewer classrooms, a smaller high school, and a smaller staff.
ReplyDeleteThe debt service for the building program, the teacher contract, the OPEB, the PERS contribution increase, the athletic facilities, and the 8% healthcare increase become more affordable.
Why do we have some smaller class sizes in the high school than we do in K-2 anyway?