Leechburg Area's budget includes 1% tax hikes

Leechburg Area School District passed a final budget for next school year that includes differing tax increases for residents in its Westmoreland and Armstrong county communities.

While the district will collect about the same amount of money as during the previous school year, there will be adjustments to millage rates based on the State Tax Equalization Board (STEB) ratio between Armstrong and Westmoreland counties. Leechburg Area includes students from West Leechburg in Westmoreland County, and Leechburg and Gilpin in Armstrong.

With STEB rebalancing adjustments, the millage rate will be set at 158.91 for West Leechburg and 69.65 for Leechburg and Gilpin.

That’s almost a 1% increase in terms of money owed for all property owners, but the millage increase for West Leechburg will be 0.3 mill and the increase in Leechburg and Gilpin will be 1.2 mills.

The district also plans to earmark about $58,000 in Ready to Learn Tax Equity relief funds from the state for a 2025-26 tax credit for West Leechburg residents.

The budget includes more than $18.3 million in expenditures with more than $16.3 million in revenue. District Business Manager Jake Chapla said the increase in expenditures can be credited to various things, including an increase of almost 20% in medical insurance costs, which comes to about $5.2 million.

“One of my biggest concerns when I stepped in here is the cost of health care in the school district,” Chapla said during a May voting meeting.

Other expenditures include state-mandated cyber charter school costs, including about $450,000 set aside in case students are enrolled or placed this upcoming school year, a $1.8 million boiler and an HVAC project.

Despite what appears to be a $2 million deficit, Chapla said the district will be able to apply for deductions for the improvement project through the state Department of Education, easing the cost for the district. The district would see that money in the 2026-27 school year.

“That’ll be a great deduction for us,” Chapla said.

Without factoring in the boiler and HVAC project, and if the district doesn’t have to touch its $450,000 contingency fund, a deficit of about $221,000 remains, Chapla said. He said the district was able to take off $179,000 from the initial $400,000 deficit detailed by the district’s proposed budget in May with federal funding.

“We’re slowly closing in,” Chapla said.

If House Bill 1500 makes it through the Pennsylvania Senate, setting a flat $8,000 regular education tuition rate for cyber charter schools, the district would save about $171,904 in tuition costs, which would get that deficit to $49,000, according to Chapla.

“The district is also evaluating its banking options to look to generate more interest revenue and help cut into the approved budget’s deficit,” he said in an email.

The majority of the district’s revenue comes from local and state levels, Chapla said.

The budget was passed in a 6-1 vote with member Darius Lovelace voting against it. Members Jimmy Feudale and Melanie Knight were absent from the meeting.