New Ken-Arnold can't afford to change tax deadlines or eliminate late penalties, board member says

New Kensington-Arnold School Board isn’t changing the district’s property tax deadlines or eliminating late penalties this year because it said doing so could cost the district nearly $100,000.

While Westmoreland County and the cities of New Kensington and Arnold extended their discount windows and eliminated penalties to help property owners affected by the covid-19 pandemic, school board members said they can’t afford to.

“We’re not sitting on $4 million in the general fund,” board member Tim Beckes said. “I’m sympathetic, too. I am worried about our budget next year.”

The deadline for property taxes to be paid at a 2% discount remains Sept. 30. Payments will be owed at full value until Nov. 30, after which a 10% penalty will be added through the end of the year, Business Manager Jeff McVey said.

Based on collections last year, McVey told the school board the district would lose $36,000 by extending the 2% discount from Sept. 30 to Oct. 31. Forgoing the 10% penalty through the end of the year would cost $63,000, he said.

McVey said the deadlines would remain the same if the board did not act to change them. The board took no action when it discussed the issue at a committee meeting last week, and it did not come up during the board’s voting meeting Tuesday.

At the committee meeting, Beckes said changing the deadlines now would mean the district would have to cut $100,000 in spending somewhere else.

“We just don’t have that luxury,” he said.

“I don’t like it, but I agree with you,” board member Chelsea Stone said.

The district’s $39 million budget for this school year included a 3-mill tax increase. Covering a projected $1.1 million deficit is expected to reduce the district’s reserves to about $300,000 by the end of the school year.

State law approved in April gave local jurisdictions the ability to extend tax deadlines.

New Kensington extended its discount deadline from June 30 to July 31. Property taxes there can be paid through the end of the year without penalty.

City Treasurer Jordan Elias said collections have been a little slow.

“It’s obviously covid,” he said, adding the city has received about 80 fewer payments than at this time last year.

He could not say how much less money the city has collected compared with the same period a year ago.

Arnold extended its discount deadline from April 30 to July 30. The deadline for payments at full value was extended from June 30 to Sept. 30.

On Friday, tax Collector Cathy Ozdan said the city’s penalty phase, which adds 10% to property tax bills, will start on Oct. 1 and run through the end of the year. It normally would have started on July 1.

Ozdany said Arnold’s collections are pretty even with last year’s.

Westmoreland County extended its 2% discount from April 30 to Aug. 31. Property owners can now pay taxes without penalty through the end of the year.