Norwin official vows not to raise school taxes

Property owners in the Norwin School District will not have to pay more in school taxes in the 2021-2022 school year for the first time since 2011, Norwin’s top official promised.

In promoting a commitment of doing more with less, Superintendent Jeff Taylor told the school board Monday there will not be a tax hike “unless the board directs me otherwise.”

Norwin levies a property tax of 82.4 mills in the Westmoreland County portion of the district. That includes 1.2 mills for the Norwin Public Library, which generates about $490,000.

Norwin has the second lowest millage among the 17 school districts in the county, with only Monessen levying a lower tax rate.

Owners of a property with an average assessment of $22,130 in Irwin, North Huntingdon and North Irwin will pay $1,876 in school taxes, Taylor said. The district also serves 18 properties in White Oak and South Versailles in Allegheny County, which requires a different tax rate because of differences in assessment.

“We will be fiscally conservative, have fiscal integrity, do more, have more technology, have more support for our teachers and students, we will try to reduce class size” and do all those things without a tax increase, Taylor said.

While holding the line on property taxes, Taylor said he wants to reduce the size of classes, with an initial focus on kindergarten through fourth grade. Norwin will begin to identify strategies to cut class size “in a fiscally responsible manner.”

The promise not to raise real estate taxes comes in a year when the terms of four of the school directors will expire: Brian S. Carlton, board president; Donald W. Rhodes, board vice president; Tony L. Corsa, who was appointed in December 2019; and Raymond Kocak.

It also is being made as the current five-year contract with the Norwin Education Association, which represents the teachers, expires on Aug. 31. The average annual raise under the current contract has been 2.94%.

In reviewing the district’s $75.2 million budget, Ryan Kirsch, Norwin’s business affairs director, said the current real estate tax collection has exceeded projections by $1 million, despite the economic slowdown from the pandemic. The total assessed value of property in the district grew by $269,000, Kirsch added.