Upper St. Clair School Board on April 22 (Saved in Google Docs) adopted a proposed final budget for 2013-14 that lowers the real estate tax millage rate by 16.6 percent.
The board had a goal of not raising taxes, and in fact is being forced by state law to lower its tax rate to account for an overall increase in taxable real estate value in the township as a result of the Allegheny County Reassessment, which takes effect this year. School districts are prohibited from gaining a so-called windfall in revenues solely as a result of increased property values, whereas municipalities are permitted a five percent increase in revenues.Upper St. Clair's tax rate dropped from 25.718 for 2012-13 to 21.438 for 2013-14. Superintendent Patrick O'Toole will be posting a letter and budget summary on their district website by the end of the week. [Our super Super only posts pics of lunches and construction.]
A blog reader submitted this math problem to me, which I found compelling.
If you own a $250,000 home in the #1 USC school district (21.438 mills) you'll owe $5,359.50 in taxes.
That same home in Mt. Lebanon will cost you $6,917.50 in school district taxes. (27.67 mills)
Or a premium of $1,558.00 to send your kids to the #2 school district.
12 comments:
The Expenditures shown in the 15-Apr-13 budget for the 2013-2014 school year are $83,249,503 - the exact same expenditures shown on page 13 of the dummy budget submitted to the State to apply for exceptions to Act 1.
What have the school board members been doing in budget meetings the last 2 months if the expenditures have not changed?
Shhhh, John, nobody is suppose to notice that.
John,
Doesn't it have to match the fake budget? Is this the fake proposed final budget?
Elaine
I think I might be done with this blog. Why do you even live in Mt. Lebanon? I really don't see any reasons (from your blog posts) to recognize it as a top notch community and school district.
No one is forcing you to live here. Head on south on Route 19 and start the "USC Citizens" blog and tell people how much it sucks too.
Oh! It's the old "If you don't like it, why don't you move?" statement again. Sour grapes 10:05, whoever you are.
10:05 there are people and there have been comments on what a great community it is, some of us would like to see it stay that way.
If you think spending millions of dollars on land in other communities is wise I guess you ahold move on.
I think had money not been thrown away people might find things like, turfing a field acceptable. If you find seeing our district raising our taxes to 27.67 mills while USC manages to find a way to drop their millage while consistently ranked as the number one OK, there really isn't any reason for you to visit this blog.
Rarely do you offer much in the way of contributions being discussed anyway. You cheerlead for the district, call people names and run.
I'd love for you to convince us why we're wrong but you offer nothing in the way of facts or intelligent debate.
Let take one subject and see if you can tell us something.
USC is dropping there SD tax rate, we are not. Are we monsters for asking why one can manage to be #1 AND cut taxes and we can't?
Are we wrong for being miffed that our new HS would be around $100 million or less and it may be unlikely that it gets done for $113 million?
Sorry a number of auto check corrections.
The important one is we were told the high school project would bid out at $100 million or less.
It didn't happen.
Its quite possible it might not even be completed for under the $113.4 cap set by the board.
I think the board and the administration can handle $13.4 million worth of criticism, especially since not one has ever admitted they were wrong.
10:05 PM, you are probably better off sticking with http://lebomag.com/category/lebolife-blogs/ It might be more of what you are looking for. The only down side is that you can't submit anonymous comments.
Elaine
Why do I live here 10:05.
I like my house. I like my neighbors. I like Washibgton Road,it's restaurants, and especially Rolliers. I like the library. I like the tree lined streets. I like the proximaty to town, the T, the Galleria. I love the parks, tennis courts and golf course. I'm impressed with the number of churches and temples. I like being close to St. Clair Hospital. I'm OK with municipal taxes so far.
I'm not thrilled with the school district and I'm especially not thrilled with people like you that think they can tell people to get out. Who do you think you are?
I'm confused. So, what is the implied millage rate under the new assessment?
10:05 I'll try to answer your question as best I can using info from the Proposed Budget PDF (pages 9 and 13 of 24).
If I'm wrong, I hope someone will correct my numbers.
In 2012-13 the districts set millage rate was 27.1851.
Act 1 stipulates that due to the reassessment that can raise the mills only by 1.7% or to 27.642.
Act 1 doesn't force the district to go that high, only sets the maximum increase.
As we can see in The Almanac USC and South Fayette have chosen not to raise their millage to their max. Act 1 limits. USC actually dropped their rate.
Now then back to Lebo. Even with all the exhaustive labor to find the fat and cut budgets by the administration the district couldn't manage to even achieve the Act 1 limit.
They've elected to take advantage of the allowable exclusions and exemptions and raise the millage by 1.78% to 27.67 mills.
Which had you been following James Fraasch's Audit & Finance several years ago he asked Jan if the high school project would cause problems with the Act 1 cap.
Her response: "yes, it most likely will, but we can always take advantage of exemptions and exclusions to exceed the limit."
So, the board with that knowledge in hand chose not to hold raises, benefits and spending to rational levels in anticipation of trying to meet the Act 1 limit. It operated smug in the knowledge that they could exceed it.
Some suggest, they actually banked on surpassing the cap!
That is my take on the facts. I image the person that wants me to move will swoop in an call me crazy or a hater.
But, I'll bet they won't point out my errors.
One other point. I believe the district can also apply for an emergency increase any time during the year if it runs into trouble. Say like a $900,000 grievance judgement?!
In 1887 Alexander Tyler, a Scottish history professor at the
University of Edinburgh, had this to say about the fall of the
Athenian Republic some 2,000 years prior: "A democracy is always
temporary in nature; it simply cannot exist as a permanent
form of government. A democracy will continue to exist up until
the time that voters discover that they can vote themselves generous
gifts from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority
always votes for the candidates who promise the most benefits from
the public treasury, with the result that every democracy will finally
collapse over loose fiscal policy, (which is) always followed by a
dictatorship."
"The average age of the world's greatest civilizations from the
beginning of history, has been about 200 years. During those 200
years, these nations always progressed through the following sequence:
> From bondage to spiritual faith;
From spiritual faith to great courage;
From courage to liberty;
From liberty to abundance;
From abundance to complacency;
From complacency to apathy;
From apathy to dependence;
From dependence back into bondage."
The board is moving us to bondage.
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