School board caps tax hike at 3.6 percent

POTTSTOWN >> As it has ever since it has been an option, the Pottstown School Board has adopted a resolution pledging to keep any tax increase for the coming school year at or below the state-imposed limit of 3.6 percent.

Although the state index would allow the board to adopt a tax hike that high without going to voters, the school board has in the last two years not raised taxes at all.

The resolution adopted unanimously by the board allows for the finance director to take more time in putting together a draft budget for the 2017-2018 school year.

The advantage of this decision is that the later in the year information about coming costs is gathered, the more accurate it tends to be.

It was one of several actions taken by the school board Dec. 15 as it wrapped up its business for 2016.

Additionally, the board has also begun discussion of enacting a fee for using its property for parking — a concern that arose from the use of the former Edgewood school by The Hill School for a regional lacrosse event on its far fields facility.

Also under discussion at its next policy committee meeting — as yet unscheduled — are the school uniform policy and the bullying policy, a discussion which comes on the heels of complaints about bullying problems at Pottstown Middle School.

Discussion about an initiative to provide $10,000 forgivable loans to teachers and administrators who buy homes in the borough will also move forward and, possibly, be wrapped up by January.

Board member Thomas Hylton, who first proposed the idea in May, noted that both the school board’s solicitor and the solicitor for the Foundation for Pottstown Education, which will administer the program, have signed off on its legality.

Solicitor Stephen Kalis said he was waiting for direction from the policy committee about setting up the parameters, but School Board President Amy Francis said a special meeting of the board should be set up in January dedicated just to hammering out the details on this issue.

“I think we can get this done in January,” she said, although no date has been set.