Jeannette City tax increase spurred by decrease in property values, school leaders say

Jeannette City School District property taxpayers will see their bills go up by 1 mill after the school board approved the increase in the $23 million 2022-23 budget.

District interim business manager Dale Kirsch and superintendent Matthew Jones said the rate will rise to 89 mills, which is about average for schools in Westmoreland County. The increase will cost the average taxpayer about $11 more annually.

Both Kirsch and Jones said, because property values have decreased in the city, less revenue comes in through real estate taxes.

“The 1-mill increase was to try to balance out” the reduction in assessed value and tax revenue, Kirsch said.

“If you don’t look to have incremental increases in your millage, then what happens is you can keep your millage rate the same” but collect less in property taxes, Jones said.

School directors have held the line on property taxes in the past two years after a few years of incremental increases. At the time of a 1-mill increase for the 2017-18 school year, officials said taxable properties in the city had decreased by $3.7 million since the 2011-12 school year as businesses have left and properties have been revalued.

The district will be adding two new positions for the 2022-23 school year and won’t cut any current staff members, Jones said. The new jobs are for a social worker as well as a school counselor and intervention specialist.

“We really felt like we were best served in investing in people that would have direct contact with our students,” he said.

The district is looking to overhaul its security system. A second armed security guard will be added to replace a school resource officer from the city police department. The district previously had two security guards — one armed and one unarmed — in addition to the resource officer. The cost for both of those guards is $102,120.

School officials also are seeking requests for proposals to upgrade the district’s surveillance camera system inside and outside buildings. Those were last updated more than 10 years ago.

“It’s an antiquated system,” Jones said.

That cost is estimated to be $250,000 to $300,000.