Bethel Park School District proposes 1.25-mill real estate tax increase

A 1.2515-mill real estate tax increase is included in Bethel Park School District’s 2025-26 proposed final general fund operating budget, as presented at the school board’s May 13 committee meeting.

Such an increase would mean that the owner of a property with an assessed value of $155,000, the municipality’s median, pays an extra $194 this year. The rate would climb from 26.0748 mills to 27.3263, representing a rise of 4.8%, matching Bethel Park’s Act 1 index set by the Pennsylvania Department as an effective cap.

The board’s schedule calls for a May 27 voting meeting, with the proposed budget to be considered (this issue of the Bethel Park Journal went to press on May 21). Adoption of a final budget is due by June 30.

According to information available on the district’s website, revenues are anticipated to match expenditures at $110.488 million. Balancing the budget requires no use of money from Bethel Park’s fund balance, which is to remain steady at $18.071 million, of which $6.595 is not assigned for a specific purpose.

The district is losing $723,987 in revenue, or 1.02% less than the current fiscal year, because of a $26.5 million decrease in assessed value of real estate in the municipality.

Allegheny County’s latest common-level ratio, which is used to ensure that all properties are assessed at approximately the same percentage of their market value, is causing a further revenue decrease. Bethel Park places its loss at about $1.612 million, involving 758 properties.

Personnel costs for the district constitute $79.2 million, or 72%, of expenditures in the proposed budget. According to the district, wages are increasing by 2% for all staff members, following a 5.2% rise for 2024-25, and medical insurance costs will go up by 5.7%.

Expenditures for 2025-26 include $11.76 million in debt service, with obligations to make payments on four bond issues, as listed by the district:

• $69.845 million in 2016, refinancing a previous issue for the construction of the new Bethel Park High School building;

• $39.185 million in 2022 for renovations to Independence Middle School;

• $56.54 million in 2023 for completion of the Independence project, which is scheduled to wrap up this August, and start construction of the new school for all district elementary students;

• $69.495 million in 2024 toward the elementary school.

The proposed 2025-26 budget calls for capital reserve and construction costs, including the purchase of six new buses at $870,000, replacing turf on two athletic fields for $1.2 million, and paving Black Hawk Drive and the high school parking lots for $1.2 million.