City schools decline to raise taxes, increasing deficit by nearly $5M

The Pittsburgh Public Schools board Wednesday declined a proposal to increase property taxes and held the millage rate steady for 2021.

The move will cause the operating deficit for the district’s 2021 budget to expand by $4.6 million.

District administration proposed a 2.6% property tax increase to help alleviate the long-standing operating deficit of the school system. The district said it needed additional money because major cost drivers like salaries, benefits and charter school payments continue to outpace revenue.

But the board declined to pass the tax increase by a vote of 3-5-1. Board members Pam Harbin, Devon Taliaferro and Sylvia Wilson voted for the hike; Kevin Carter, Veronica Edwards, Cynthia Falls, Bill Gallagher and Sala Udin voted against it; Terry Kennedy abstained.

The board then subsequently decided to keep the current 9.95 millage rate in place, 5-3-1, with the yes and no votes switching. The millage rate means that the owner of a home assessed at $100,000 will pay $950 in property taxes.

Some board members said the district needed to take a closer look at where it could save money or create revenue before asking for more from the community.

Mr. Gallagher suggested the district examine how money can be saved by rethinking transportation and reworking feeder patterns for schools.

“It’s up to us to make this right and come up with a good, solid plan, then revisit the tax increase next year,” he said.

Before the vote, Superintendent Anthony Hamlet encouraged board members to approve the increase as a first step in fixing the district’s financial situation and promised that administration would explore ways to save money in 2021.

The superintendent unveiled a multipronged plan aimed at correcting at least part of the district’s deficit in 2021, much of which involved cutting and reductions.

Mr. Hamlet said that in January or February, the administration planned on updating the board on plans to modernize the district by supporting facility renovation and innovative school design as well as reducing the district’s footprint.

Also in the first couple of months of 2021, he said, administration would detail plans to leverage on-time cost savings and reduce programming as well as workforce in both central office and school-based staff.

Then in March and April, the district would seek to increase philanthropic opportunities and grant writing.

At a later date that is dependent on the state Legislature, the district would look to recapture tax revenue that has been diverted to the city of Pittsburgh.

Without the tax increase, Mr. Hamlet said, the district would face a $39.5 million deficit, up from $34.8 million expected with the hike.

“In order to reduce this deficit, we will be led to make many difficult decisions regarding the programming, services and staffing in our buildings,” he said.

Ms. Harbin, a proponent of the tax increase, asked her colleagues what they would be willing to cut from the school budget, noting that the district cannot control costs for most of its significant annual expenditures.

She noted that the district would need to have discussions about furloughing staff and closing buildings if the board did not take action.

“A tax increase will never be popular,” Ms. Harbin said. “But a tax increase is the only thing a board of education can do to raise revenue.”

Several board members who voted against the tax increase, however, said issues caused by the COVID-19 pandemic influenced their decisions.

Ms. Edwards said she has been distributing food to families in her community she knows are having a hard time financially because of the pandemic, and she does not want to ask them for more.

“For me to go back and say we increased taxes while their children aren’t in school and struggle with being on the computer ... then it also is a struggle for me,” she said. “I cannot in good conscience bear a harder burden on these people.”