Ligonier Valley OKs proposed school budget with no tax hike

Ligonier Valley School Board has opted for a proposed $36.36 million district budget that avoids a property tax increase, a little over a week after reaching a 4-4 split vote over a real estate levy to support the spending plan.

Since the successful budget vote occurred at a special meeting on Wednesday, the board is moving its next regular meeting date from June 23 to June 30. That will allow 3o days for the proposed budget to remain on display before the board acts on a final version.

At the regular May 19 board meeting, School Directors Jennifer Kromel, Michael Knupp, Irma Hutchinson and Mary Gamble voted for a tax hike of 0.34-mill while Gary Steffey, Don Gilbert Jr., Cindy Brown and Josi Bennett voted to keep the tax at 85.9 mills.

At Wednesday’s session, all eight members approved holding the line on taxes.

It will be up to the Westmoreland County Court to appoint someone to temporarily fill the ninth board seat, which was left vacant by the sudden April 29 death of Joseph Vella. The board on Wednesday considered six applicants, but all fell short of the required five votes for appointment.

In order to cover a projected budget gap between revenues and expenses, Business Manager Eric Kocsis said, the district would have to take a little more than $1.3 million from its fund balance.

He said the fund balance includes about $2.8 million in uncommitted dollars and another $7.1 million that is set aside for various expected costs — such as payments toward teacher retirement benefits, capital projects and technology upgrades.

When Kromel initially supported a tax increase, she cited concern that the district would deplete its fund balance too much, risking its financial security.

Hutchinson said she switched her vote in part so that the board won’t violate the state-mandated June 30 deadline for passing a budget and to ensure the district can continue to pay its employees and vendors on time.

She said district administrators recently recommended a 2-mill tax hike, based on a projected operating cost deficit and the need to plan for addressing aging school buildings. She said that suggested increase would have generated an additional $360,000 in revenue for Ligonier Valley.

But, she said, “I thought it was time to compromise and pull together for the good of the school district, the students and staff and moving on.”

Kocsis has said a 1-mill tax increase would add a little less than $18 to the annual tax bill on a property with a median assessed value of $17,740.

Ligonier Valley last increased its real estate tax in the 2020-21 school year, with a 2.15-mill hike.