USC School District Hikes Property Taxes

UPPER ST. CLAIR, PA - Prepare to pay more in property taxes. Upper St. Clair school directors approved a 2017-18 district budget containing a millage increase of 0.8 mills. The new tax rate is 25.16 mills.

What does that mean for taxpayers? For those owning a $230,000 house, the median home value in the township, taxes will increase $188 or $16 per month.

The 2017-18 spending plan is an increase of nearly $3.5 million or 4.59 percent over the current budget. More than $1 million is attributed to mandated increases to the Public School Employees Retirement System, which has jumped from $2 million in 2007-08 to $11.3 million for 2017-18. Salaries, health care premiums, special education and transportation costs also have increased.

Despite state and federal mandates, funding levels remain at 21 percent and two percent respectively. Seventy-seven percent of the district’s budget is locally funded.

“The theme of school budgets continues to be increased mandates from both the state and federal levels with an absolute failure to adequately fund,” superintendent Patrick T. O’Toole said. “In effect, our legislators at every level have passed the buck of school funding to local school boards.”

Homeowners also face tax increases for the next two years to pay for $16 million in district capital projects. Millage is tentatively slated to increase 0.15 mill in 2018-19 and 0.16 mill in 2019-20.

Those tax increases will fund construction of a new eight-lane pool at the high school, a multi-use complex at the high school stadium and pay for the completion of Boyce Athletic Field facilities. The district also plans to remove the pedestrian bridge at the high school and repave the high school parking lot.

Photo by GotCredit via Creative Commons.