Fourth Year of No Tax Increase for York City Schools (PA)

June 9, 2010

For the fourth year in a row, the York City School Board will vote on a budget containing no tax increase.

The board also will decide whether to move forward with its $8 million Jackson school renovation project.

The vote on the school district’s $115 million budget and the school project are scheduled for the board’s next regular meeting at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, June 16.

A vote in favor of the budget means the district would keep its tax rate at 29.54 mills. With this rate, residents with homes assessed at $50,000 would pay close to $1,500 in taxes, according to Jon Boyer, the district’s director of business and finance.

This is the fourth year the district has not raised taxes, Boyer said during the board’s committee meeting Monday.

About $13 million of the budget comes from grants that have helped the district meet its increasing financial responsibilities while not raising taxes, he said.

Homeowners also are expected to have t heir taxes decreased by almost $500, as part of the homestead and farmstead real estate tax reductions resulting from the Pennsylvania’s gambling tax funds.

The district will receive a property tax reduction allocation of more than $2.9 million generated from the gambling tax funds.

"Every school district in the state will have an improved school budget this year," board member Tom Foust said. "We’ve been fortunate in not raising taxes. The slot machine money is very beneficial to the (residents) in York City."

Jackson project: During its June 16 meeting, the district also will vote on whether to restart its Jackson Elementary School renovation project.

As part of the project vote, board members will decide whether to authorize the administration and architectural firm EI Associates to submit project plans to the state Department of Education for review and approval, Foust said.

"We’re making the state aware of our intentions to renovate (Jackson) and be qualified for state reimbursement," he said.

The district had put the project on the back burner to concentrate on the McKinley and Davis elementary schools’ renovation projects that cost $12.3 million each.

However, the district recently received $24.6 million in school construction funding that covers the interest on construction costs for the McKinley-Davis projects.

York City schools were one of 46 districts statewide to receive more than $600 million in bonds made possible through federal stimulus funding.

The construction funding means the district will save about $ 600,000 annually over a 15- to 17-year period to do the Jackson project. This means the city would pay $1.1 million annually within that time period to cover construction and interest costs.

The district previously figured it would have to pay $1.7 million annually for 20 years to cover those costs, Boyer said.