Steel Valley school board approves tax hike,

The Steel Valley school board has approved a $36.8 million preliminary budget for the 2018-2019 school year that will raise taxes by 0.7280 mills to 23.489 mills.

The district’s general fund revenues are expected to be $34.2 million, and expenses are projected to be $36.8 million.

The deficit of $2.6 million will be paid for out of the district’s general fund balance.

District Business Manager John Zenone said the tax increase was needed because of rising salaries, charter school tuition and pension costs.

According to Mr. Zenone’s presentation on the budget, teaching and special education salaries alone will increase by $892,838, and administrative salaries will rise by $26,388 during the 2018-2019 school year.

The cost of Steel Valley School District’s tuition for district students attending charter schools is about $4.49 million for 242 students, he said.

Pension contributions to the Pennsylvania School Employees’ Retirement System also will go up during the 2018-2019 school year by $311,000 to about $4.5 million per year, he said.

Steel Valley includes the boroughs of Munhall, Homestead and West Homestead.

Under the new budget, Mr. Zenone said school real estate taxes for a home with an assessed value of $100,000 will increase by $72.84 per year, or $6.08 per month.

For a home with an assessed value of $50,000, school taxes will increase by $36.42 per year, or $3.04 per month, he said.

The district also is floating a bond note to pay off a court settlement with an employee who filed a lawsuit againstthe district.

The school board voted to hire Clark Hill PLC as bond counsel for the emergency debt incurredto pay off the lawsuit.

School officials, including Mr. Zenone and Superintendent Ed Wehrer, would not divulge the amount of money the lawsuit cost the district, saying officials signed a confidentiality agreement.