Nearly $8 million Norwin deficit could be covered by raising taxes and dipping into reserves
Norwin officials are projecting a nearly $8 million deficit as the district works on a 2024-2025 budget.
The spending plan presented by Ryan Kirsch, director of business affairs, projects about $83 million in revenue and anticipates about $91 million in expenses. It doesn’t account for about $9.4 million in reserves.
Norwin can only raise taxes by 5.83 mills, which would generate about $2.5 million for the district. It also has about $9.4 million in reserves, Kirsch said.
The budget accounts for hiring an autistic support teacher for children in kindergarten through fourth grade; two kindergarten teachers and one elementary teacher; one reading specialist for students in kindergarten through 6th grade; and a maintenance person for the heating, ventilating and air conditioning systems. The board’s personnel committee made the hiring recommendations, Kirsch said.
If the district approved a 5.83 mill tax hike, the owner of a property with the median assessed value of $22,540, would pay an additional $131 in school taxes, Kirsch said.
Norwin levies a tax rate of 85.8 mills on property in Irwin, North Irwin and North Huntingdon. Of that amount, the revenue from 1.2 mills is allocated to the Norwin Public Library, as set by a voter referendum.
The school district also has about 18 property owners in Allegheny County whose homes are taxed at a rate of 12.78 mills. The tax rates are not the same because of two counties have differences in the assessment of property for tax purposes.
When the school board last year faced a projected deficit in the 2023-2024 school year, the board took about $4.5 million from the fund balance to cover the gap and did not increase property taxes.
The board is scheduled to vote at its April 22 meeting on adopting the proposed budget. The revenue projections would be updated over the next two months and revisions can be made, Kirsch said. The millage will be set when the final budget is approved in June, Kirsch said.
Joe Napsha is a TribLive reporter covering Irwin, North Huntingdon and the Norwin School District. He also writes about business issues. He grew up on Neville Island and has worked at the Trib since the early 1980s. He can be reached at jnapsha@triblive.com.
Remove the ads from your TribLIVE reading experience but still support the journalists who create the content with TribLIVE Ad-Free.