Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
Proposed budget calls for lowest tax hike in 20 years
EAST MARLBOROUGH » Unionville-Chadds Ford School district officials are poised to adopt a $87 million budget that reflects the lowest tax increase in the past 20 years.
“I believe this is a budget that meets the needs of our students in both a fiscally responsible and sustainable way,” Superintendent John Sanville said at a public budget meeting Monday night. “This is the lowest tax increase in the Unionville-Chadds Ford School District in 20 years.”
Chester County homeowners will see a 0.35 percent increase in taxes in the 2018-19 school year, while Delaware County (Chadds Ford Township) homeowners will see a 6.43 percent increase in taxes, for a weighted average of a 1.56 tax hike.
Last year, Chester County homeowners saw taxes increase 2.6 percent, and Delaware County homeowners saw taxes increase 0.35 percent. However, over the past 18 years, the average in both counties was around 3.7 percent.
If the budget is adopted as presented, the average Chester County homeowner will pay $26 more in taxes per year, while Delaware County homeowners will pay an additional $397 in taxes. Last year, Chester County homeowners got hit with an average $191 increase in taxes, while Delaware County homeowners paid an average of $18 more in taxes per year.
Not all school board members were comfortable with hiking taxes more than 6 percent in Delaware County.
“For the people in Delaware County, this is a real thing,” said Gregg Lindner, school director. “They will see their tax bill go up in one year $400 on average. It’s a real difference and we will hear about it.”
Jeff Hellrung, board president, questioned whether the board should reduce overall spending to provide tax relief to Delaware County homeowners.
The proposed budget shows spending in salaries and wages up $876,339 over the current school year, which includes spending for a new autistic support
teacher. Spending for benefits, which costs the district $1.2 million this year, is up $658,731. Salaries and benefits represent 73 percent of total school district costs. Spending for special education is 3.62 percent of the budget, and spending for transportation and fuels is 4.25 percent of the budget. Debt service represents 9.65 percent of the budget.
The medical plan rate will stay unchanged for 2018-19, according to the preliminary budget, but prescription rates are scheduled to go up 11.52 percent.
With a four-year earlybird teachers’ contract ratified, school officials are confident of central salaries for the next several years.
The proposed budget provides $633,000 more in spending for technology, including improvement to infrastructure, upgrading networking systems and beefing up security.
“In this budget, we make investments in technology from an infrastructure standpoint, from a tech security standpoint and from integration into the classroom standpoint,” Sanville said. “Most importantly, it invests in student wellness and student experience on a daily basis, all while being good stewards of our taxpayer investments.”
The proposed budget is available for public inspection at the administrative office until May 29. A vote on the proposed budget is set for May 14, while the vote to adopt the budget is slated for June 18.