The Times Herald (Norristown, PA)
Final $172M budget to raise taxes 2.58 percent
Split approval vote reflects concerns about a ‘more painful’ future
ROYERSFORD » The Spring-Ford Area School Board voted 6-3 to adopt a final budget of $172,070,735 for the 2020-2021 school year, according to a press release issued by the district.
The proposed budget includes a 2.58 percent tax increase, which equates to an increase of .7092 mills, resulting in a millage rate of 28.1869. This equates to a $70.92 increase per $100,000 assessment.
Voting no were Board President Coleen Zasowski, Vice President Thomas DiBello, who heads the board’s finance committee, and Clinton Jackson.
“We are going to have the same conversations next year, but it is going to be more painful,” said Jackson.
“We are in for a whirlwind next year,” said DiBello. “We’ll be looking at a 5 percent to 6 percent tax increase right out of the chute,” he said, adding that the cost of state COVID-19 guidelines for re-opening “are going to be astronomical.”
“We asked the professional staff to take less of a raise and that was denied, but we have people in the community who have lost jobs, or seen salary reductions and we are putting that burden on them,” DiBello said.
“I firmly believe the increase is too high for those who have been affected by the global pandemic,” Zasowski said. “We had just recently announced our goal to get between 1 percent and 1.5 percent, but sadly we did not meet that goal as a group, not at all.”
Zasowski added “and while we are hopeful we will not have to make these hard decisions next year, in the event that we do, it is our hope that all Spring-Ford employees and their respective representatives will partner with us, to ensure the ongoing viability of the strong educational services that we do provide here at Spring-Ford.”
Collegeville resident Heidi Goldsmith praised the board for “pushing a budget that supports the needs of the kids in our district.”
Spring City resident Lori Hoshaw said SpringFord is an “extremely affluent” district and “there are children in other districts who don’t have anything near what Spring-Ford children have and I know other districts that have managed to balance their budget without raising taxes that actually took from their reserve fund.”
Royersford resident Daniel Miscavage, who is also a parent and teacher in the district, said “it’s hard to hear the school board say they want to work together when they have not been forthcoming, and are unwilling to change their budget strategy and pay for things, some of which they need and some they don’t, rather than invest in the people who will help my two students to be better students.”
Over the last few months, the finance committee focused on the 2020-2021 budget by evaluating potential expense increases and revenue losses due to the COVID-19 crisis.
During these meetings, the committee, as well as the full school board and administration, reviewed possible reductions that could be made to the 2020-2021 budget to reduce the overall tax increase.
The goal of these meetings was to identify possible reductions, consider scenarios, and understand how those reductions would impact the 2020-2021 budget as well as the 2021-2022 school year budget.
Although teacher furloughs were raised as a possibility — and a special closed-door executive session was held to discuss that possibility — the budget does not call for any furloughs, according to Erin Crew, director of communications, marketing, and media for the district.
CFO Jim Fink gave budget presentations at the April 20 work session meeting and at the April 27 school board meeting. Through these regular public meetings and extensive work from the business office, the initial tax hike for the 2020-2021 budget was reduced from 4.38 percent to the final 2.58 percent.
The board voted unanimously to modify real estate tax payment deadlines and the number of installment payments for the 2020-2021 tax year. The following adjustments have been made for the 2020-2021 tax year only:
• Discount Period: as always, taxpayers who pay early will receive a 2 percent discount. The discount period will end on Aug. 31.
• Flat Tax Period: the flat tax period (meaning no discount or late penalty) for the payment of real estate taxes is modified from two months to three months. The flat tax period will now end on Nov. 30 (moved back from Oct. 31).
• Penalty Tax Period: the penalty tax period for the payment of real estate taxes is modified from two months to one month. The penalty tax period will now begin on Dec. 1, (moved from Nov. 1).
• Installment Payments: the number of installment payments for real estate taxes is increased from three installments to four installments.
The 2020-2021 installment payment due dates are Aug. 31, Sept. 30, Oct. 31, and Nov. 30.
The board also voted to enact property tax and rent rebates to certain senior citizens, widows, widowers and disabled persons with fixed and limited incomes; establishing uniform standards and qualifications for eligibility to receive a rebate; and providing penalties for fraudulent claims.
The Property Tax and Rent Rebate Program benefits eligible Pennsylvanians age 65 and older; widows and widowers age 50 and older; and people with disabilities age 18 and older.
The income limit is $35,000 a year for homeowners and $15,000 annually for renters, and half of Social Security income is excluded. Spouses, personal representatives or estates may also file rebate claims on behalf of claimants who lived at least one day in 2018 and meet all other eligibility criteria.