School budget talks start in Upper Darby

UPPER DARBY >> The Upper Darby School Board is eyeing another effort to keep mitigate its tax increase for 2020-21.

A resolution is expected to be presented to the board to go forward with the accelerated opt-out budget timeline that holds the board to not raise taxes over its state-issued Act 1 index rate of

3.8 percent in the next school year budget. The board has taken the opt-out option over the past few years.

The opt-out option means no preliminary budget will be presented to the board in the start of 2020. A proposed final budget will be presented in April and scheduled for adoption in May. A final budget will be adopted in June.

Specifics about any part of a potential

2020-21 budget were not presented by district Chief Financial Officer Craig Rogers at a Nov. 26 board committee meeting, but he said now that an audit of 2018-19 district finances has been completed, his office can start focusing on the budget.

If the board goes the regular budget schedule, it would have to ask the state for a referendum exception that would bypass a voting referendum in the May primary asking voters for permission to raise taxes over their Act 1 index. Exceptions include retirement contributions, special education funding and debt services.

According to district records, taxes have been raised about one percentage point lower than their Act 1 max allowances every year since 2014-15, averaging

1.9 percent against a 3.2 rate maximum. The board took the rare step of holding the line on taxes for 2016-17.

Of 15 school districts in the county, Upper Darby is in the top-third for average rate of tax increases since 2014-15, bested only by Chichester, Chester Upland, Ridley and Marple Newtown, whose respective average increases ranged from .5 to

1.06 percent.