Board approves preliminary budget; discusses rifle range

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

The Mt. Lebanon school board on Monday unanimously approved a $99.3 million preliminary budget with a property tax increase of 0.73 mills.

But board members warned that the preliminary budget is just that -and the final budget, passed in June, could result in little or no tax increase.

That’s because several major cost drivers are still unclear, including the biggest -- teacher salaries -- along with rates for health care.

Those expenses represent 45 percent of the budget and the district won’t know what they will be until a new contract is reached with the teachers union.

The current pact expires in June and negotiations are underway.

Salaries for Mt. Lebanon teachers range from $47,500 for a first year teacher with a bachelor’s degree to $106,500 for a senior teacher with a doctorate degree.

State law requires districts to pass preliminary budgets in February if they expect to exceed the Act 1 index limit, which caps schools to a hike of no more than 2.5 percent -- or 0.57 mills. The current rate is 23.93 mills.

The district will apply for exceptions from the state Department of Education for costs related to special education and pension expenses.

If it is approved, the final budget would bump the tax rate to 24.66 mills.

The district has exceeded the index limit three times since Act 1 was passed in 2006 -- a major increase in 2011 to finance the high school renovation project and smaller increases in 2013 and 2015.

Also Monday, the board got a preview of potential capital projects slated for the 2018-19 school year, including 60 projects costing about $920,000.

Highlights include $125,000 to replace the air conditioning and heating unit in the Mellon Middle School auditorium, $83,000 for a new dump truck with a plow and $40,000 for a safety and security upgrade of computer servers and licenses.

In addition to the 60 prioritized projects, district director of facilities Richard Marciniak added 27 optional projects totaling approximately $3 million, including $1.35 million to returf the rock pile at the high school.

Thanks largely to previous projects that were completed under budget, the district has about $5.3 million in its capital projects account, with another $3.8 million available as a surplus in its general account, said Jan Klein, director of business and finance.

“You’re doing a phen o m e n a l job,” board President Mike Riemer told Mr. Marciniak. “You’ve managed to bring us in under budget each year.”

The board is expected to approve the projects on Monday.

Theboard also discussed contributing to a $1.4 million rifle range being built by the municipality at its public works facility on Cedar Boulevard.

Previous plans by Mt. Lebanon to locate the new range near the municipal golf course on the border with Castle Shannon were thwarted late last year when the Keystone Oaks school board voted to limit the range to law enforcement only, due to its proximity to Myrtle Avenue Elementary School.

But part of the reason for building the range is so that the high school rifle team could once again have a home facility.

The 21-member team has been traveling to a range in North Strabane since the school board nixed plans several years ago to build a new range as part of a major renovation of the high school.

The municipality needs a new range so that its police can qualify and train with firearms. Plans call for renting the facility to other police departments and using it for gun training classes.

The present range on Cedar Boulevard, near the public works facility, is 40 years old, is undersized for new regulations and has outlived its usefulness, according to officials.

The district previously estimated its contribution to be about $300,000.

“The topic of a rifle range in Mt. Lebanon has been ongoing for the past few years,” said Superintendent Timothy Steinhauer. “The municipality has asked us to contribute.”

The cost of fees and busing students to the Washington County range is $31,500 per year, said Assistant Superintendent Ron Davis.

Several members said they favored the Cedar Boulevard proposal because students could walk to the site.