Franklin Regional budget proposal would hike taxes by 2.2 mills

Franklin Regional school board will take the first step next week toward adopting a 2019-20 budget that includes a 2.2-mill tax hike.

The board’s May 13 meeting will include a vote to adopt a proposed final budget of $59.7 million. That is about $1.45 million more than this year’s budget.

Financial Services Director Jon Perry said $475,000 of that increase is the district’s contribution to teacher pensions, or the PSERS system, which this year rises from 33.43 percent to 34.29 percent.

“We’ll use $680,000 from the district’s dedicated PSERS fund balance to smooth out that PSERS increase,” Perry said.

The district will also see an additional $145,000 in state revenue, earmarked by Gov. Tom Wolf for special education programs.

Charter- and cyber-charter-school tuition costs will rise next year, but Perry said Murrysville officials’ elimination of the school resource officer program helped to offset those hikes to the tune of roughly $28,000.

If the board holds to a 2.2-mill tax hike, it will mean about $76 more in taxes for a homeowner with the median assessment of $34,400. A mill is projected to raise $354,000 in revenue.

Perry also asked the board to approve the transfer of $1.5 million from the general fund to the capital reserve fund for future projects, as well as a commitment of $1.25 million to phase in tax hikes associated with district debt service.

The school board has voted to raise taxes 15.18 mills in the past decade, according to district documents.

The board’s voting meeting will be at 7:30 p.m. May 13 at the Murrysville municipal building at 4100 Sardis Road.