Board approves budget that raises taxes by 2.2%

Average district homeowner will pay $52 more per year

The North Hills school has unanimously approved a final 2019-20 budget of $83.92 million that raises taxes by 2.2%, or 0.4 mills.

The new tax rate will be 18.65 mills, which would cost the average homeowner an additional $52 a year. The average home value in the district is $135,900.

Two Ross residents protested the tax increase during the work session on May 30, and the June 6 voting meeting.

“Do you seriously think that the taxpayers in this township are not going to be upset by this,” Patricia Popadyn asked during the work session. “This is not going to fly in this township.”

Denise Piveronas spoke at both meetings, saying that Ross residents cannot afford any more school taxes.

“We cannot keep affording your tax increases,” she said. “The teachers keep getting raise after raise after raise. Enough is enough.”

Board President Ed Wielgus said wages have increased a total of 9.49% over the past 11 years.

Mr. Wielgus, who had voted against the proposed final budget in May, said he went through the document “line by line” and could not find any cuts that could be made. More staff was necessary because the district has grown by 476 elementary students.

There are two big expenses that they have no control over, he said: payments to charter schools and payments to the state’s pension fund.

Next year, North Hills will pay $1.2 million for residents to attend charter schools. The tuition that must be paid by the districts is determined by a state formula.

“When you open up a charter school, if it costs $4,000 to $5,000 to educate students, we have to send $11,000 to educate the student,” he said. “Guess where that extra $6,000 goes. It goes into their pocket. It’s for profit.”

He added that the performance of most charter schools “is well below anything that our school district is doing these days.”

Mr. Wielgus said special education costs have increased 18% since 2014 from $7.9 million to $9.5 million.

The district’s required contribution for the state pension system has risen 127% over the past five years, and more than 500% over the past 11 years.

“The biggest piece of that pension bill does not have anything to do with our current teachers,” said Annette Giovengo Nolish, chair of the board’s finance committee. “Pennsylvania, at one time, had a totally funded pension fund. They used the money for other things and did not replace it.” The budget also includes:

• Funding for six additional teaching positions and a new district director of elementary education.

• $300,000 to add interactive video displays to classrooms, replacing older projectors.

• $276,885 for new instruments in all schools to accommodate the growing number of students joining band and to replace instruments that have exceeded their life span.