School Board Proposes 4.82 Percent Tax Increase with 2011-12 Budget

The nine members of the Upper Dublin School Board did a fair amount of positioning at Monday night’s monthly meeting, resulting in the passing of a proposed 2011-12 budget with a 4.82 percent tax increase.

The 4.82 percent figure was a compromise of sorts, as school board members discussed and supported three different increases. The proposed budget began at 3.83 percent, but board members debated exercising the state Special Education exception of .99 percent to arrive at the 4.82 figure, and also discussed adding the state PSERS exception of 1.03 to arrive at 5.85 percent.

The nine members took turns stating their viewpoints on the budget, and before a motion to vote came down, it appeared that they were split equally, in threes, for the different increases.

“At 3.83 percent, a person’s home assessed at $175,000 would see an increase of $177 year, or $14.78 a month,” board member Margie Barrett said. “If we went to 4.82 … it’s an increase of $223 a year, and it’s the difference of $3.38 a month (from the 3.83 percent figure).”

However, board member Art Levinowitz spoke out against an increase when his turn to speak came.

“I will not vote for a tax increase of more than 3.83 percent,” Levinowitz said. “The argument is sometimes made that it’s only another 45 dollars, it’s only another 75 dollars (per household). I respect that argument, but that 75 dollars is going into the gas tank, it’s going into buying lettuce in the supermarket. We have to look at what we can do as a district to maintain 3.83 this year.”

Board members also made sure to note that any increases would not be used for expenditures, but to build a general fund balance. Every year, the board attempts to grow this reserve fund, which has been built to a current amount of $4,604,632.

However, this money would be almost entirely used to help balance the 2011-12 budget, leaving only $7,096 at the end of next year. Several board members were wary of this figure.

According to district figures, a 4.82 percent tax increase will instead leave the fund balance at approximately $750,000 at the end of the 2011-12 budget.

“One of the things that I’ve always known since I’ve been on the board is how important it is to have money that you can call on when you need it,” said board member Debbie Mendelson, who originally expressed support for the 5.85 percent figure. “It’s the value that I grew up with, it’s the value that my children grew up with: Save for a rainy day… I look at those numbers ($7,096), and they scare me.”

Levinowitz attempted to alleviate some of those fears by pointing out that the predicted fund balance is usually a conservative figure, and that the district has historically saved money.

“In the past, the fund balance has always gone up. Three million, 4 million—even this year, the fund balance has gone up because the administration has done an incredible job cutting costs throughout the year,” Levinowitz said. “We are not going to end up with a fund balance of 7,000 dollars. Will it be $4.6 million? Probably not. Will it be $3 million? Maybe. Will it be $2 million? Maybe.”

The ending fund balance for previous years has been $4,175,573 in 2010, $4,892,278 in 2009, $4,104,216 in 2008 and $4,238,667 in 2007.

The idea of using a pay freeze to help the district’s financial situation was brought up on several occasions, but board members made it clear that contracts were locked, and only the teachers and other employees would be able to start the discussion and approve such a measure.

Board member David Robinson stated that he currently supports the 3.83 percent figure, but would be willing to support higher taxes if teachers and employees of the district agreed to take a pay freeze.

“If our staff would make such a sacrifice, to contribute or give back to the community, I could agree to match those funds with a tax increase,” said Robinson, who thanked a crowd of a few dozen employees at the meeting for even considering having discussions regarding a pay freeze.

A motion to approve the budget at 5.85 percent failed by a vote of 2-7, with board members Joseph Chmielewski and Margie Barrett voting yes. However, a subsequent motion to pass the budget with an increase of 4.82 percent passed by a 6-3 vote.

Board members Margie Barrett, Joseph Chmielewski, Vanessa Good, Debbie Mendelson, Michael Paston and Michael Resnick voted in favor, while Art Levinowitz, David Robinson and Bert Saddler voted no.

Board members made it clear that the budget was only proposed, and is subject to change before the scheduled adoption June 16. May 28 marks the deadline for public inspection of the proposed final budget, and June 5 the deadline to advertise intent to adopt. The budget cannot be raised any higher than 5.85 percent.

Notes: You may view the proposed budget (with the originally proposed 3.83 percent increase) and the meeting's agenda in PDF format in this article's media section.

Monday’s meeting also saw the annual academic Student Recognition Ceremony. See this article’s media section for pictures and a list of recognized students.