North Hills School District Approves Tax Hike

ROSS TOWNSHIP, PA - As expected, taxes are going up in the North Hills School District. School directors on Thursday adopted the 2017-18 budget that includes a 0.2 mill increase to 18 mills.

That means property tax bills on a $135,700 median valued home in the district, will rise $27.14 annually or $2.26 a month. The district currently has the sixth-lowest millage rates of Allegheny County’s 41 suburban school districts and the lowest millage rate among the nine north area school districts.

The tax increase will allow the district to add four new employees: an elementary music position, an elementary physical education position, an elementary special education position in the area of autistic support and a district-wide school nurse position. District officials say those positions are needed because of rising enrollment.

The budget also includes $216,000 for updated curriculum materials, $198,00 for new elementary teacher desktop computers and $115,000 to upgrade the Wi-Fi infrastructure in elementary buildings.

Even with the tax hike, the $79.1 million budget will need to be balanced by transferring $1.3 million from the district’s fund balance. That money was put in reserve to counter state-mandated pension contribution increases.

Photo by GotCredit via Creative Commons.