District anticipates tax increase in proposed budget

HORSHAM » The HatboroHorsham School District got once step closer to approving its final budget for the 2018-19 school year by approving a proposed final budget at its May 14 meeting.

The final budget approval is scheduled for June.

The budget proposes a 2.4 percent tax increase on real estate taxes for district homeowners. That millage increase would bring the tax rate in the district up from 28.141 to 28.816 mills. A mill equals $1 in tax for every $1,000 of a property’s assessed value.

In Horsham, where an average home is assessed at $181,148, homeowners would pay $122 more on next year’s tax bill. In Hatboro, where an average home is assessed at $121,861, residents would pay $82 more next year.

The district is projecting the 2018-19 expenditures to total $106 million, a number up $2.6 million from the current school year. The district revenues are expected to rise from $103.5 million to $104.4 million, a 0.09 percent increase.

To cover the $1.6 million shortfall, the district would implement a 2.48 percent millage increase. The tax increase remains within the 2018-19 Act I index, which is set at 2.4 percent.

Since 2006, when Act 1 index because Pennsylvania law, school districts across the state have been allowed to raise real estate taxes only up to allowed cost-of-living increase percentage in accordance to the law.

In the 12 years since the Act 1 implementation, Hatboro-Horsham has never raised taxes beyond the state-set standard.