TESD 2019-2020 Budget Adopted, Tax Hike Included

BERWYN, PA — The Tredyffrin/Easttown School Board recently approved the 2019-2020 budget, and residents will be seeing a tax hike.

On June 10, the board approved the final budget, which stands at $153,658,447.

The budget features $149,658,447 in anticipated operational spending — a 5.1 percent increase from last year — and $6,206,629 for unexpected expenses.

Unfortunately for property owners in the district, taxes are going up.

The 2019-2020 budget includes a property tax rate increase of 3.91 percent or $229 on the average assessed home in T/E. The total property tax millage for 2019-2020 is 23.8795 mills.

However, homeowners eligible for the homestead/farmstead exclusion under Act 1 will receive a reduction of $186 on their 2019 property tax bills from state gaming fund revenue, the district said.

The board employed several strategies as they worked to close the $11.75 million gap between projected revenue and anticipated spending: expense reductions, increased property taxes, new fees and fund balance contribution.

In total, budgeted expenditures were cut by $5.17 million by implementing strategies of departmental budget reductions, maintaining the 2018-2019 core class size increase by one in grades K-8, limiting high school staffing levels, reducing costs in employee healthcare and printing, and by eliminating new non-mandated positions in school security, clerical support and elementary mental health counseling.

In addition to adjusting revenue and expense budget assumptions, $1.2 million earmarked for capital expenditures was moved from the operational budget to contingency.

See the full 2019-2010 budget online here.

Any further public comments regarding the budget may be submitted to Arthur J. McDonnell, Business Manager, at mcdonnella@tesd.net or to the T/E School Board at schoolboard@tesd.net.