EL taxes to increase
Published: July 1, 2009
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share thisDIMOCK TWP. – Taxes in the Elk Lake School District will be going up for the 2009-2010 school year, according to the budget passed by the school board last Tuesday, June 23.
The millage for Wyoming County residents of the district will rise from 45.87 to 48.15, a jump of about five percent. For Susquehanna County property owners, the rate will go from 35.672 to 35.88 mills, or about a half of one percent.
A mill is $1 in tax on each $1,000 of a property's value as assessed for tax purposes.
The district has a total budget of $18,365,242.
Superintendent William Bush explained that the difference in the millage is calculated by a formula provided by the state Department of Education. School districts that serve more than one county use the formula to ensure that the same amount of revenue is generated in each county, even if the property assessments are done differently.
The board also looked at an alternate budget with a slightly higher tax increase, but ultimately decided against it.
Bush noted that the second version included funds that would be stockpiled for an expected increase in required contributions to the statewide teachers’ pension program.
“There is a looming crisis with the retirement fund,” Bush said.
Money needed to fund the Pennsylvania Public School Employees' Retirement System are expected to increase rapidly in the next few years due to increases in retirements and costs of the fund.
Bush explained that the one-third of the fund comes from the state, a third from employee contributions and a third from local school districts.
The exact increase that will be expected from school districts won’t be known for at least a couple of years. But board member Arden Tewksbury noted that if the school district doesn’t have the money available in its savings, the district could be on the hook for a six- to eight-mill increase by 2013.
However, Tewksbury said with the current economic situation in the nation, this year probably isn’t the time to start stocking away money for the pension hike.
“This year, we certainly need a lot of consideration to our taxpayers,” he said.
Tewksbury admitted that the doing so only delays the inevitable, and the board will have to give serious consideration to increases starting next year.
“I know what we’re doing is just postponing what’s got to be done,” he said.
In other business, the board hired Amanda Dean as a kindergarten teacher at a salary of $37,100, and Jessica Lunger as a fourth grade teacher at a salary of $36,000. Salaries were also approved for the list of bus contractors for the 2009-2010 school year.
