Board OKs budget with tax hike
Members cite growing expenses, upcoming projects as reasons for increase
LANSDALE » The 2018-19 budget for the North Penn School District is now official, after a 5-4 vote by the school board Thursday night.
“Our focus was on a long-term spending strategy. We do not want to sit here and hope that money appears,” said board President Tina Stoll.
“We want to make sure that we’re being fiscally responsible, and thinking strategically, for the long term, because we have several large projects coming up,” she said.
Since 2018 began the board has discussed at length the spending plan for the upcoming year, and how to match the revenues to a $260 million final budget that includes 21 new employee hires, security upgrades, increases in employee contract and retirement obligations, and uses roughly $2.7 million in transfers from reserves to balance the budget. Over the past two months, staff and the school board have discussed dozens of different financial projections with varying levels of debt for projects like renovations to North Penn High School and/or Knapp Elementary, and new spending on projects such as full-day kindergarten.
Last week the board split on whether to approve a tax increase of 2.4 percent, the limit set by the state’s Act 1 of 2006, or at the 3.4 percent allowed using a state-approved exception the board sought, and received, earlier this year. Voting in favor of the budget were Stoll and board members Christian Fusco, Jonathan Kassa, Elisha Gee and Tim MacBain, who released a joint letter after the vote explaining their reasoning.
“Due to a revenue imbalance created by unfunded mandates from the federal government and Pennsylvania legislature, a majority of North Penn’s school directors voted for a logical, strategic plan to address structural deficits caused by shortfalls in pension and special education funding,” reads the letter.
“Though this was a difficult decision to make, this increase is the most responsible corrective course of action to address the repercussions of years of underfunded district budgets,” the letter said.
Board member Ed Diasio was one of the four votes against the budget, and reiterated points he said earlier this week in making one last push for a 2.4 percent increase instead of 3.4 percent: revenues came in well above projections for 2017-18, making up an anticipated deficit of roughly $4.5 million, with enrollment numbers and health insurance costs projected to decrease next year, and interest income increasing.
“When you put all of those considerations to gather, I didn’t think that called for the maximum increase that’s permitted under state law. And that’s really, ultimately, what it comes down to,” he said.
Diasio cited the figure of $41 million currently held by the district in various reserve funds as a number that could be tapped this year to help reduce the impact on taxpayers.
“When you finish the
year with those statistics, it’s hard for me to justify asking our taxpayers, many of whom are maxed out already, to contribute the maximum amount that’s permitted by state law,” he said.
The three other votes against were cast by board members Jenna Ott, Terry Prykowski and Juliane Ramic, and Ott said afterward she had no problems with the expense side of the budget, including the new staff positions for special education and mental health support, only the revenues.
“My issue, and the reason I voted ‘no,’ had everything to do with the 3.4 percent tax increase. I really don’t feel like that is a responsible move, at this time, for this district,” Ott said.
Ott cited the appointment of two new district assistant superintendents Thursday night, along with the ongoing process of updating the district’s strategic plan, as big-picture steps she thought should have been taken before approving a larger tax increase.
“I felt like it was very irresponsible of us to ask our community to put that kind of money out on the table, if we’re not prepared to tell them what, exactly, we’re doing with it,” she said.
Fusco was more blunt in explaining the reason for his vote, saying the increases in revenue that helped balance the 2016-17 and 2017-18 budgets were largely due to one-time sources like higher property tax assessments, that may not repeat.
“We don’t want to budget around good fortune,” Fusco said.
In a press release from the district after the budget was approved, Superintendent
Curt Dietrich said the budget “positions the district to meet current and future needs.”
“As we develop our strategic goals for the next three years, some of the issues that we are looking at include full-day kindergarten, class size, and building renovations. We need to ensure we have the financial resources to support possible endeavors in these areas,” he said.
According to the district press release, the budget is a 3.11 percent increase in spending from the prior year, and includes six new elementary coordinators of school climate and character education, who will support and develop the implementation of school-wide positive behavior systems, and the needed professional development for staff. Other new positions include an added behavioral specialist, a mental health case manager to provide transition support for students who return to North Penn High School after an outside placement, teachers, math assistants, and English language development assistants in various schools.
“I am very proud that included in this budget is additional staffing to provide direct support to our students,” said Stoll in the press release.
“All students need opportunities to grow not only academically, but also socially and behaviorally, and this budget accounts for that,” she said.