Shhh...for your eyes only

As directed by the school board on the February 11, 2013 agenda and the February 18, 2013 agenda, Dr. Timothy Steinhauer submitted an application for Act 1 Exceptions to the PA Department of Education.

Preliminary Budget – Act 1 of 2006 requires us to prepare and the Board to approve a preliminary budget in order to be able to apply for exceptions to the Index limitation on real estate tax rates for the 2013-14 school year budget. As discussed at prior meetings, this budget is not the detailed budget which will be available for Board and community review in the spring once additional information is known on both revenue and expenditure accounts. This budget totals $84,469,784, which is high enough to enable us to apply for all applicable exceptions. Approval of this preliminary budget does not require the Board to approve this millage amount when the final budget is adopted in May. The superintendent recommends approval of this legally required budget.

Most school districts post this on their websites. Not Mt. Lebanon.  Through a Right To Know to the PDE, here it is.

Act 1 Exceptions Application

Mrs. Cappucci was adamant about all budget information being posted on the school district website, when I questioned the board at the April 2, 2013 Budget Forum.  I found it fitting to pair up a 1972 Mt. Lebanon yearbook photo along with the podcast. I feel that it summarizes the school board directors' attitude towards the community.

Amazing. The document shows a budget shortfall of $1,865,309. Wow, almost like the song, 867-5309.  No disclosure to the public.  The school board was saying it was maybe, perhaps, not sure, something like $800,000 or so.

Please keep this a secret.  We can't let this out.

As promised, more on the budget forum

Last night, Bill Matthews made an excellent presentation concerning the budget. I posted a link to his twelve page presentation here. Bill was kind enough to send Lebo Citizens readers a letter to the editor with additional comments.  Thanks, Bill!

Letter to the Editor

Last evening I spent a few minutes with the School Board at its budget forum.  I was afforded more than 4 minutes, but nevertheless hurried along, so the Board could get to “its” business at hand. 

Over the years I have watched this annual ritual and it does not change much, other than this year there is a larger than normal informational abyss on the upcoming budget.  However, there is considerable historical information and dated projections for anyone with the mind to mine the data.

Being so inclined, I did this and shared some of my findings with the board.

A.      Since 2001, total school district expenditures have outpaced inflation, measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI), by about 23%.

B.      In school year 2012 – 2012 alone, this “delta” totals more than $12,000,000.

C.      While expenditures have continued to grow, enrollment has continued to decline.  In 1978, district wide enrollment was 7,131 students.  The most recently available projections from the PA Department of Education, project 2021 enrollment at 4,753 students; a 33% decline for the period.

 

D.     The increasing expenditure demands have required increasing tax support from residents.  Earned income revenues have grown commensurate with the CPI, while real estate taxes, which “balance” the budget, have grown much faster.  Since 1978, the CPI has grown by a factor of 3.6.  Gross Real Estate Revenues for the school district, by a factor of 5.5.  Adjusted for the declining enrollment, real estate revenues on a per student basis have grown by a factor of 7.4.

My primary point to the Board is that this trend is not sustainable.  They may not be able to fix it this year, but they must recognize the devil in the details, demonstrate some leadership, and chart a course for our collective future.

I have absolutely no interest in hearing about PSERS, the need to “invest” in our infrastructure, or who last kicked the can down the road.  These are all lame rationalizations for spending and taxing more. 

When elected officials take office, they do so with the intent to make a difference.  They come armed for battle with either leadership and good ideas, or OPM (other people’s money).  It seems more often than not OPM carries the day. 

ps

But for being politely “gaveled” down, I intended to share some positive observations, including:

1.      Our students, supported by their families and our talented faculty continue to achieve and make our Community proud.

2.      While achievement does come at some cost, we are far more efficient than most of Pennsylvania’s school districts when you analyze achievement with expenditures.

3.      In fact, many districts spend bunches more money per student.

4.      Who deserves the credit – see point 1.

No way! UPDATED 2x

I am sitting at the budget meeting. I will have a more comprehensive post concerning the budget forum but since I have nothing else to do, I thought I would make a quick post.

I was the first to comment. I had printed out the fourteen questions that I sent on Friday and had a copy for the board members, Jan Klein, and Tim Steinhauer. I asked if the board members could each take a question and answer only nine of the fourteen questions. Mary Birks immediately mumbled, "No way!"

Since I would publish the answers here, Elaine Cappucci was not interested in writing for my blog.  She was not willing to provide any answers. All have been discussed at the meetings, she claimed. Mrs. Posti clarified that Jan Klein did not receive a 6.9% increase as was reported in the Post Gazette. She said that the PG printed a correction and that it was 3%. I have not been able to find that. Jan Klein thought that the second bond would possibly be in the fall.

Bill Matthews made a presentation and Elaine Cappucci was more concerned with the time clock and less with content. I will be posting his presentation here tomorrow. [It has been posted as an update.]

One more resident spoke, as well as two staff members.

Now, the board is going through the motions of looking at cuts. No cuts yet. Everything is being taken off the table. Looks like we're going to be hit with a big tax increase. Wait, now we're talking about fees. Larry Lebowitz listened to Bill Matthews say that they had to do something. Looks like fees are going up so that there are no education cuts. This falls under revenue generating, according to Larry.

Update 11:19 PM Bill Matthews presentation to the School Board
Podcast to tonight's budget forum

Update April 4, 2013 4:15 PM Pittsburgh Business Times published their slideshow, School budgets: 5 years ago to now

Property Tax Windfall Watch 2013

The Allegheny County Controller's office has posted this information Property Tax Windfall Watch 2013 on their website.

Municipality

2012 Millage

2013 Millage

% Change Millage

% Change CAV

2012 Certified Assessed Value

2013 Certified Assessed Value

Mount Lebanon

5.43

TBD

TBD

27%

$2,174,705,011

$2,765,981,183

A resident wrote to the school board asking why not use the 2013 Certified Assessed Value of $2,765,981,183.

For the Board, Elaine Cappucci sent this response.

The District has not yet begun using the County's 2013 assessments because the total valuation amount is still changing, as stated clearly on the website you linked to: "While the Controller’s Office understands that the 2013 Certified Assessed Value totals will be impacted by the results of pending appeals and other factors, in the interest of transparency we are providing at this time a comparison of millage rates and certified assessed values for each municipality and political sub-division in Allegheny County."
The information on the County website includes appeals and settlements to date, yet within Mt. Lebanon there are still many appeals outstanding and yet to be filed and most commercial appeals have not yet been heard. The county assessment number will likely change and so the District is waiting to set the assessment value, which will allow us at that time to use the most accurate valuation that reflects the appeals. For the Board,
Elaine CappucciPresident, Mt. Lebanon School Boardecappucci@mtlsd.net

I am concerned with this logic since the County website admits that the process could take a year or longer. 

The information below is for education and informational purposes only based on data available through the Allegheny County Office of Property Assessment as of December 13, 2012. All of the values remain approximations because the final Certified Assessed Value cannot be determined until all assessment appeals are finally determined and adjudicated, which may take one year or longer.

With the budget meeting coming up on April 2, the school district website shows that a proposed budget will be approved 13 days later.

"A proposed budget is expected to be approved by the Board at the April 15 meeting with approval of a final budget on May 20, 2013."

Wait a minute!!

Page 12 of the budget presentation states that one of the Board options (number 3)

If an increase in taxes to the historical average millage increase of .55 mills, budget is $870,000 out of balance.

Yet the School District Budget page states:

The budget currently being developed considers a potential .55 mill increase which is the average increase since Act 1 of 2006 was passed limiting millage increases to an inflationary index. This is a 2% increase in the real estate tax millage rate. In order to provide a budget of this amount, over $600,000 of program reductions are necessary. Proposals to get to a .55 mill increase include some staffing reductions in various areas, taking advantage of retirements when possible. Also being considered are reductions in contracted services, travel reimbursements and supply funding.

Where did they find $270,000? Am I reading this correctly?

True Confession About the School Board Meeting

I have not watched or listened to the entire March 18 school board meeting.  I did catch Harry Funk's article in today's PG. Mt. Lebanon school board rejects idea of school closing Personally, I am getting a little tired of Mr. Cooper. I consider him to be an obstructionist. In the PG article,

"Board member William Cooper gave his opinion about the potential ramifications of closing a school."

Anytime a board member comes up with a cost saving idea, Bill gives his opinion about why it is a bad idea. Hey Bill, why don't you come up with some ideas to balance the budget, besides raising taxes? I know you feel as though a .55 millage increase is like no increase at all, but in reality, it is like a .55 millage increase. What did someone say?  A million dollar increase?

More suggestions made at Monday's meeting included: (as quoted in the PG article)

• Eliminate an elementary librarian's position and have six librarians share duties among the seven schools

• Re-examine the high school's Math Lab, which provides tutorial, remedial and enrichment services for students

• Increase class sizes at the secondary level

• Reduce physical education requirements in high school

• Ask teachers to take fewer in-service or personal leave days

• Cut funding for club sports

Other suggestions involve ways to increase revenue, such as raising student fees for activities and parking.

The best line in Harry's story was the last line.

"We have not gotten a lot of feedback to this point," Mrs. Cappucci said. "I hope that people will start joining the conversation."

I hope the school board will start listening. We have had quite a conversation here.

Budget Update March 19, 2013 [UPDATED]

Budget Update March 19, 2013

"At the Board meeting on March 18, 2013, the Board discussed direction for the administration to prepare a proposed budget for the 2013-14 school year. The budget currently being developed considers a potential .55 mill increase which is the average increase since Act 1 of 2006 was passed limiting millage increases to an inflationary index. This is a 2% increase in the real estate tax millage rate. In order to provide a budget of this amount, over $600,000 of program reductions are necessary. Proposals to get to a .55 mill increase include some staffing reductions in various areas, taking advantage of retirements when possible. Also being considered are reductions in contracted services, travel reimbursements and supply funding.

A special meeting of the Board will be held on Tuesday, April 2 at 7:30 pm in the Jefferson Middle School Library to discuss reductions that would be needed to further reduce the millage rate. Note that millage calculations at this time use 2002 assessment levels since there continue to be a large number of outstanding appeals on the new 2013 assessments in the community.

As more reassessment information is known, the millage will be translated into new, lower millage rates so that the total tax dollars for District programs in 2013-14 do not exceed the allowable Index plus exceptions increase limits mandated by law. A proposed budget is expected to be approved by the Board at the April 15 meeting with approval of a final budget on May 20, 2013."

As was sent to me, there is some confusion concerning the meeting notice.

"It does not indicate which assessment numbers the 0.55 mill increase pertains to. It would be beneficial for the District to indicate, in today's U.S. Dollars, the actual amount of the budget the District is proposing, regardless of millage rate or assessment. This would eliminate confusion among the taxpayers regarding the amount of the budget increase. It would also be helpful for the District to include the amount of the grievance, with additional legal fees, as well as all fundraising costs and income in the budget total.

The state is increasing its Basic Education Funding to Mt. Lebanon by 3.4%, see below:
http://www.portal.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt/community/education_budget/8699/basic_education_funding/539259

This is an increase of $189,967 from last year. Why isn't the District passing the savings on to the local taxpayers? Does the 2% millage increase quoted above take this into account?

There are many unanswered questions, and it is impossible for the Public to assist the board with budget decisions while the District keeps important information away from public view."

Finally, from the Commonwealth Foundation, this might explain the PSERS contributions predicament:


 

Update March 20, 2013 2:57 PM  Lebo board hopes fundraising will ease budget woes (Saved in Google Docs)

The Annual Budget Ritual

The following letter is from Mt. Lebanon resident, Bill Matthews.

Letter to the Editor

The annual budget ritual on Horsman Drive is underway. As the Board and
Administration have done for the last few years, they will likely refuse to acknowledge and address the realities of our Community.

They will grimace ... They will offer up quarters like they are manhole covers ... They will lob grenades at “other” public officials ... They will diss those whom they feel are questioning their nobility.

I will be the first to admit we cannot save our way to prosperity. But spending our way to oblivion is no more of an acceptable proposition. The District’s budgets and forecasts (available on its website) project our “per pupil cost” will have doubled by school year 2017-2018, since 2001-2002.

This increasing encumbrance on the Community is simply not sustainable. The long term trajectories of “per pupil cost” and “earned income revenue” are clearly divergent, with the former far outpacing the latter.

Per pupil costs will have grown 4.59% per year.

Earned income revenue 2.74% per year.

Earned income while growing the least; is hardly the least important metric of our economic wherewithal. Earned income revenue is, in my opinion, a good proxy for the buying power of MTL taxpayers, yet it still does not tell the whole story. It is an average, which means by definition, not all families may have experienced even this modest growth. Many of our residents have no earned income to start. And, many are still recovering from double-digit setbacks in savings and investments.

The Board needs to get serious about cost reduction and stop dreaming about revenue enhancement. We are accountable for our own fortune. Immediately, we should chart a course where the average growth in total expenditures is less than the projected increase in earned income!

Yes, this may sound hard to some … but in the real world … leaders do what cannot be done … all the time.

It starts at the top, Tim

In The Almanac "Mt. Lebanon mulls raising school taxes" (Saved in Google Docs) article:

School superintendent Dr. Tim Steinhauer explained that given a .55 mill tax increase, he believed the district could find the necessary cost savings without significantly impacting student programming. Staff attrition, adjustments to data warehousing and reductions in travel expenses for school board, teachers and administrators would all help close the budget gap.

Pay freezes for Tim Steinhauer and Jan Klein would also help close the budget gap, as their USC counterparts did last year. But nooooo, that will never happen. The board will continue to give them increases. Instead, the board continually bad mouths Governor Corbett, never taking responsibility for the mess we're in. I rolled my eyes when Bill Cooper said that .55 millage increase is like no increase at all. Huh? It would put us over 28 mills, Bill. An increase is still an increase.

Dale Ostergaard and Scott Goldman would like to see a zero millage increase.

The preliminary, a.k.a fake, budget presentation made by Jan Klein and Tim Steinhauer is available here.

Field Maintenance, Capital Campaign, and Budget

Three topics for discussion at tomorrow's school board meeting:

1. Field Maintenance Bid Award – The Board will discuss the field maintenance services that have been provided by the Municipality. The field maintenance services were engaged to improve School District fields since 1999. The District has solicited bids from other companies and the costs will be reviewed.

2. Capital Campaign Counsel – The Board will discuss the engagement of Campaign Counsel for a potential Capital Campaign.

3. 2013-2014 Budget Presentation – Information concerning the preparation of the 2013-14 Budget will be presented to the Board.

Field Maintenance: Glad to see the Municipality is getting out of the School Fields Maintenance business. What does this mean for the YSA? Probably a topic for discussion with the new Sports Advisory Board. Chip Dalesandro, who represents both football and baseball, will say that all was paid up, while the Franklins will be there to confirm it.

Capital Campaign Counsel: I am assuming we are going with Pursuant Ketchum. Capital Campaign Counsel.

2013-2014 Budget: Are we getting fake information concerning the fake preparation for the fake budget?

MTLSD Preliminary Budget Posted

School Board Approves Prelimary Budget for 2013-2014

At the January 21, 2013 Regular School Board meeting, the School Board approved the Preliminary Budget, as required by the State, for the 2013-2014 school year, in the amount of $84,469,784. The 2013-2014 Preliminary Budget is available for public view and will be presented for approval at the February 18, 2013 Board meeting. The School Board directed the administration to apply for exceptions to the Index limit under Act 1 of 2006 as further refined under Act 25 of 2011.

The Final Budget for 2013-14 will be voted on by the Board in May. Over the next few months, the School Board and administration will discuss a wide range of budget issues in order to set the millage rate for 2013-2014. Information, including budget documents and videos of budget discussions, will be posted on this website.

http://www.mtlsd.org/District/Budget/default.asp