School District Proposes 3.31% Tax Increase
To make up for declining revenues, the school district will ask local residents for additional tax dollars this year to the tune of a 3.31% increase.
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On the heels of Lower Merion Township's 10.8 percent tax increase in December, the Lower Merion School District chipped in its share of the local tax burden with a proposal for a 3.31 percent tax increase on Monday night, Jan. 24.
School district taxes made up about 78 percent of the local real estate tax burden in 2010, compared to approximately 13 percent for municipal taxes and 9 percent for the county. The proposed increased would raise the millage rate (tax dollars per $1,000 of assessed home value) from 22.2895 to 23.027 for the 2011-12 budget—yielding the 3.31 percent increase (see table below for the local tax impact).
School District Business Manager Victor Orlando gave a short presentation school finances, as well as a timetable for the budget's passage. A vote will be taken on the preliminary budget at the Feb. 14 Board of School Directors meeting, and the proposed final budget is scheduled to be approved on May 9 and adopted on June 15.
The initial proposal calls for a 1.73 percent increase in spending, with the majority of expenditures going toward instructional services (63 percent), support services (21 percent) and debt service (13 percent).
In a short discussion following the presentation, school board members weighed the pros of reduced spending against revenue losses.
For the 2011-12 budget, the school district cut $600,000 of transportation costs and about $1.6 million worth of health care expenses through new teacher contracts, which require employees' to pay 1 percent of their salaries toward their health care.
It also is losing close to a million dollars in one-time federal stimulus funds from the 2010-11 school budget, and investment income is predicted to be down.
The preliminary budget will be posted on the school district's website in advance of the Feb. 14 meeting.
| Assessed Property Value | 2010-11 School Taxes | 2011-12 Proposed School Taxes | Change | 2011 Lower Merion Municipal Taxes | Municipal Tax Increase (over 2010) | Net Tax Increase (School and Municipal) |
| $200,000 | $4,458 | $4,605 | $148 | $838 | +$82 | +$230 |
| $400,000 | $8,916 | $9,211 | $295 | $1,676 | +$164 | +$459 |
| $600,000 | $13,374 | $13,816 | $443 | $2,514 | +$246 | +$689 |
| $800,000 | $17,832 | $18,422 | $590 | $3,352 | +$328 | +$918 |
| $1,000,000 | $22,290 | $23,027 | $738 | $4,190 | +$410 | +$1,148 |
*Note, the municipal taxes listed above are for Lower Merion Township. Narberth municipal taxes are different and are not reflected in the table.
D. Lauro
8:47 pm on Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Again, I cannot believe this! It's getting more difficult in this economy for low and middle class residents to meet their daily needs (including healthcare and prescriptions, etc) and you still do nothing to help and keep taxes under control. Spending all the money on attorneys and settling lawsuits, (among other things) are being paid by the taxpayers for mistakes that you made. This increase is much too high. Please do something to lower it! HELP!!!!
D. Lauro
Dan Lamprey
9:29 pm on Thursday, January 27, 2011
The idea of increasing our property taxes again just make me angry. While I appreciate the services offered by the township, the answer cannot always be to just increase taxes, especially in this economy. If this trend continues, I will be forced to move somewhere else, which make me sad to think about. What can I do to prevent this increase? Or can the increase be conditional where there may not be another increase for 5 years or something like that? Help!
D. Lauro
8:36 pm on Friday, January 28, 2011
Thanks for leaving a comment too Dan. It's impossible to get anyone on the School Board to listen to us. I'd like to know what I can do to prevent this increase this year too. I have written to the Board numerous times, not even the courtesy of a reply from one of them. If more people would comment on these increases and spending, etc. maybe we could get them to listen. They get a ton of money from the State and almost 3/4 of our real estate taxes. Where is all this money going?
D. Lauro