posted by Joe Polk at 8:45 AM /
Mt. Lebanon residents can expect to see a 10.5 percent increase in the school tax rate after the school board passed a $79.36 million budget Monday night.
The 2010-11 budget's tax rate of 26.63 mills is an increase of 2.52 mills over the current year's spending. Of the 2.52 mills, 2.16 mills are to cover the $69 million bond issue for the planned $113.3 million high school renovation, and 0.37 mills are to cover increased pension fund responsibilities. The base budget went down 0.01 mills.
Read more: www.post-gazette.com/pg/10145/1060601-100.stm
Read more: www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/pittsburgh/s_682782.html
The 2010-11 budget's tax rate of 26.63 mills is an increase of 2.52 mills over the current year's spending. Of the 2.52 mills, 2.16 mills are to cover the $69 million bond issue for the planned $113.3 million high school renovation, and 0.37 mills are to cover increased pension fund responsibilities. The base budget went down 0.01 mills.
Read more: www.post-gazette.com/pg/10145/1060601-100.stm
Read more: www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/pittsburgh/s_682782.html
Labels: budget, higher taxes, millage increase, school board, school district, taxes
11 Comments:
Part of the problem is that the Board lacks several guiding principles:
1. A smaller government with lower taxes is preferable;
2. A perspective that the district needs to be funded from the money that the community gives to them, not what they want to take from us;
3. Respect for the ownership of private property; and
4. A focus on delivering only state educational requirements for public schools.
The good news is that there will ultimately be an end – the question is whether we will implement creative solutions to reverse the damage, or if there will be a complete collapse.
I’d like to see the school district sell all of the real estate into a REIT and then lease the property back. The proceeds from the sale of the district real estate would be directed to eliminating the excessive debt that the board has taken on, and may even result in a budget surplus that would be placed into a reserve or paid back to the residents as a tax rebate.
I also think that the district needs to use tax policy to build tangible value in the community. One approach is to use tax policy to encourage redevelopment. Consider this approach:
1. Identify the properties in the lowest quartile of value;
2. Implement a policy that if one of the homes in the lowest quartile is voluntarily sold, torn-down by the new owner, and replaced by a new home, then the school district will abate the all school taxes for 5 years;
3. Operate the program for up to 50 homes per year for 5 years.
In the end we’d have 250 homes with an assessed value three to four times higher than when we started. This type of program would increase revenues and build value in the community without increasing taxes.
There is an important difference between leadership and management. What was missing from last night’s meeting was leadership with a vision. We don’t need board members who can manage – we have an enormous support staff from Steinhasuer on down that can deal with identifying the relevant stakeholders for janitorial issues. What we need are board members who will lead our community with a vision of restoring what was once a great community.
not sure how I'm going to come up with the money to pay for the increase. I already thought taxes here were high enough and here's a 10+ increase? The school board is completely wrong on this one....
Lynn Bertges
Jayson Drive
Mt Lebanon has always been a community that has strived to be #1. First in sports, first in education, first in public services...
Apparently the School Board is striving for another category to be #1 at. First in tax rate. With this 10% hike, we have jumped way up the list, and are very close to having the highest millage in Allegheny County.
http://www.county.allegheny.pa.us/treasure/millsd.asp
With the forcasted increases in the years to come, we should easily achieve the coveted #1 spot. But why limit ourselves to Allegheny County. Why not strive for #1 in Western PA. Or how about #1 in the entire state? Surely we can beat out those districts in Philli...
-Andy Vines
How is it that the base budget went down 0.1 mills?
The 2009-10 budget was $72.29M. The budget passed was $79.36M. The total increase of the budget next year is, therefore, $7.07M. The 2.52 mill increase in real estate taxes (or 10.5% increase in real estate taxes) will generate approximately $5.2M in additional revenue based on current assessed values.
As the article says, the HS renovation piece was 2.16 mills or approximately $4.5M and the PSERS (or pension fund increase) was 0.37 mills or $770,000. So the 10.5% real estate tax increase roughly covers those additional $5.2M in expenses.
As the budget itself, however, is $7.1M higher than the current year's budget, it would seem that the base budget has actually increased by $1.8M rather than decreased at all. That increase simply isn't funded by real estate taxes.
Can someone please explain how and where the base budget decreased?
If someone knows, please share what is included in the other $1.8M?
Thanks,
Lisa Brown
John Kendrick said...
"I’d like to see the school district sell all of the real estate into a REIT and then lease the property back. The proceeds from the sale of the district real estate would be directed to eliminating the excessive debt that the board has taken on, and may even result in a budget surplus that would be placed into a reserve or paid back to the residents as a tax rebate."
What REIT is going to charge us less rent than we could make investing the money from the sale, when they could just invest it that way themselves? Home ownership is generally thought to be a good deal (and not just because of the tax implications). Why would you deny that benefit to your own government? It would actually raise our costs and reduce our freedom.
It's a great thing to have "respect for the ownership of private property." I think it's also a great thing to have respect for the ownership of public property, in the proper proportion of course. Mr. Kendrick's idea is a perfect example of how indiscriminate application of anti-government ideology, lacking such proportion, inevitably leads to false conclusions.
A friend who has decided to move out of Mt. Lebanon sent me this timely article from the Wall Street Journal:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704113504575264663842523880.html?mod=WSJ_hp_mostpop_read
Also, a popular talking point offered by the new school advocates is that the taxes on a $200,000 house will, in their opinion, increase by a de minimus amount as a result of the school project.
Unfortunately, no one on that side of the argument has found the time to answer my question as to how much my taxes will increase as the result of everything else that we must face in the next few years, but I won't belabor that point here.
Instead, I would point out that out of the 316 properties currently listed for sale on the Howard Hanna website, 153 (or 48%!!) of them have an asking price north of $220,000. So in effect, a perceived plus used most often by the new school advocates does not even apply to nearly one half of our housing stock currently on the market.
David F:
Head on over to lebocitizens.com.
On the home page there is a graph that shows a fairly typical Lebo home and what effect the "districts own" millage numbers will have over the next few years.
There is also a formula for figuring out your own home.
It doesn't answer all you taxing questions... but its better than the $18/month argument.
Dean Spahr
Dave F.
Don't hold your breath about that side of the argument finding time to answer your questions. They spend too much time saying we don't know the facts. Yet, what facts do they offer? What documentation do they have to dispute what we say? None. Go to their website to read the "fast facts." I see no fast facts or even slow facts. It hasn't been updated since its inception. Go to lebocitizens.com and there are recordings of actual meetings, links to transcripts, Mt. Lebanon’s Comprehensive Plan, a handy dandy formula for figuring out when you won’t be able to afford YOUR taxes, links to many newspaper articles, TV coverage, and a publication from the PA Department of Education where Mt. Lebanon is recognized as an example of restoring and reusing older buildings. The PDE says that our district has not needed new schools to attain educational excellence. But what do they know? There is even a link to the architect’s website where Oakland Catholic High School came in at under $156/sq ft. Ours is coming in at $215/sq ft. Dave, I hesitate to mention any of this since we don’t know the facts. Maybe there is still time to be enlightened by the other side. Even better, maybe it should be coming from the school board directors. They are the ones calling the shots, not us. And if anyone is interested, while on lebocitizens.com, sign the petition asking to cap the high school renovation at $75 million. I can hear them saying, “There is no such plan.” Maybe it is time to come up with one, before there are more people in the same boat as me.
Elaine Gillen
I think that any Mt. Lebanon resident over the age of 60 should receive a 100% school district tax abatement.
I find it interesting that people keep pointing to home for sale as a problem. I looked in the Pittsburgh Business Times and in the last 3 weeks there were over 20 homes sold for more than 200k. The most expensive one was 1.1 million. So it does not seem that people looking to move here care about the increase. They have to have known it was coming it has been in the news for a year.
Also, today’s PG reports that Bethel Park is raising taxes this year too. The difference in taxes, from the school only, between a 100k house in Bethel and a 100k house in Lebo is $207/yr or $17.25/mo. We all have to decide if it is worth the extra $17.25/mo to live here instead of Bethel.
Chris, is the $1.1MM house assessed at that value?
In 2012, the year of the big PSERS employer contribution increase, the assessment chickens will come home to roost.
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