North Allegheny OKs budget with 3.7% tax hike

The North Allegheny School Board approved a nearly $175.9 million budget for the 2019-20 school year that will be balanced with help from a 3.7% hike in property taxes.

The board voted 7-2 at its June 26 business meeting to approve the second consecutive tax increase in as many years after a three-year period in which the rate was unchanged.

Voting to approve the budget were board members Christoper Disque, Andrew Chomos, Kevin Mahler, Michael Meyer, Allyson Minton, Scott Russell and Richard McClure.

School directors Libby Blackburn and Christopher Finley voted against the spending plan.

Increasing the rate used to calculate property tax bills from 18.4557 mills to 19.1408 is estimated to generate an additional $4.1 million in revenue for the district next year.

Prior to increasing taxes to the current rate, it was 18.0011 mills for the three previous years, according to Allegheny County tax records. The rate for the 2014-15 school year was 17.4039 mills.

Next year’s increase will cost taxpayers an additional $68.50 a year for each $100,000 of their property’s assessed value, according to district officials.

The additional cost to the owner of a property at the district’s $238,500 median-assessed value will be $163 a year.

About 65% of the district’s funding comes from the property taxes it collects. State funding accounts for another 21% of revenue with the remainder coming from federal and other local taxes.

District officials said the additional revenue is needed to help pay for, among other things, several major construction projects under way in the district, additional staff for the district’s growing enrollment and increases in the district’s required contribution to the state retirement fund for school employees.

More than $66 million in bond issues are needed for the work under way to expand and renovate Franklin and McKnight elementary schools as well as projects to improve district sports fields and other aging infrastructure.

The district’s payment to the state Public School Employees’ Retirement System, or PSERS fund, has jumped dramatically over the past several years with estimates that it will continue to increase.

For the 2015-16 school year, the district paid more than $17.16 million into the retirement fund. The following year the payment increased by 20%, followed by a 13% jump in 2017-18.

This year, NA’s contribution to the retirement system will climb to more than $25.32 million, with projections that it will hit nearly $32.49 million within five years.

With more than ‎8,350 students, North Allegheny is the largest school district in Allegheny County after the Pittsburgh Public Schools system.