Franklin Regional School Board to vote on 2021-22 budget next week
Franklin Regional School Board members will vote tonight on a 2021-22 budget with a bit less spending and a little more revenue, but not enough to stave off a proposed property tax hike to the state limit of just over 3 mills.
As the board prepares for its final meeting before a monthlong break in July, business director Jon Perry said the $63.6 million proposed final budget has $263,000 less in expenditures after some adjustments.
“Those are predominantly related to personnel adjustment as we prepare for the 2021-22 school year and anticipate reducing some (full-time equivalent positions) as a result of elementary consolidation,” Perry said.
The budget includes $375,000 from a district fund dedicated to state-mandated pension contributions, and just over $1 million from a fund being used to gradually phase in debt service related to the Sloan “elementary campus” project.
It also includes a one-time infusion of $1.3 million from the federal American Rescue Plan, which Perry said could possibly be carried beyond the 2021-22 school year.
“That grant period runs through September 2024, so, depending on how we decide to use them, we could have access to them in the future,” he said.
Federal Title I money also bumped revenues by $13,000, but Perry said that was partially offset by a decline in some specific state funding areas.
If adopted as-is, the budget would raise the school district’s tax rate by 3.01 mills to 103.61 mills. Currently at 100.6, it is third highest in Westmoreland County, behind rates for West Leechburg (136.59) and Loyalhanna (110.95) residents.
The estimated value of a mill in the coming school year is $353,000, Perry said.
Perry said the district needs to keep in mind that the federal American Rescue Plan funding is one-time money, and that there is a Commonwealth Court lawsuit seeking to reform the state’s public school funding set to go to trial this fall.
Perry estimated that if all state basic education funding were to pass through its Fair Funding Formula, the district could lose up to $3 million, the equivalent of 8.5 mills.
The school board will meet at 7:30 p.m. June 21. Meetings are streamed live at YouTube.com/user/FranklinRegionalSD.
Patrick Varine is a TribLive reporter covering Delmont, Export and Murrysville. He is a Western Pennsylvania native and joined the Trib in 2010 after working as a reporter and editor with the former Dover Post Co. in Delaware. He can be reached at pvarine@triblive.com.
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