SAEGERTOWN — Property owners in PENNCREST School District could be seeing an increase of as much as 2.02 mills in school property taxes for the 2010-11 fiscal year.
That’s the maximum amount the district is allowed to increase the 47.57 mills property owners are currently paying without seeking voter approval through referendum — a course PENNCREST School Board has opted not to pursue.
As a result, the owner of an “average” residence in the district with an assessed value of $27,443 could see the 2009-10 property tax bill of $1,305 jump by a maximum of $54.89 to $1,359.89 for 2010-11.
However, nothing has yet been determined. The final budget won’t be ready for board approval until June; a preliminary budget must be passed in May, but even that will be subject to change. Pennsylvania law requires each of the state’s 500 school districts to have a final budget in place no later than June 30.
During a special meeting Monday night, school board members examined a preliminary budget prepared by the district’s business manager, Bill Fendya. However, the budget document discussed during the public session was not made available to the press Monday night, even though it — and nearly any document presented to a quorum of an agency for discussion at a public meeting — must be made available to the public under the Pennsyl-vania right-to-know law that took effect in January 2009. A formal request for access will be filed today.
“Between 93 and 95 percent of the budget is fixed cost,” President Chad Templin noted during the meeting. “There’s not much we can do. We have a very narrow window we control.”
Mary Spicer can be reached at 724-6370 or by e-mail at mspicer@meadvilletribune.com.
