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C. Greene OKs preliminary budget

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WAYNESBURG – Projecting a $1 million budget deficit for the coming year, Central Greene School Board approved an early preliminary budget Tuesday night, indicating it may increase property taxes this year in excess of the state’s inflationary index.

The preliminary budget lists expenditures of $34.07 million, with revenue expected at $33.05 million, which would leave the district with a $1.015 million deficit next school year. To fund the proposed budget, the district would have to raise taxes by about 1.5 mills.

“This will all change before we get to the end of June,” business manager James Shargots said Wednesday.

Many factors, including state funding levels, remain unknown. It may transpire the board does not need to increase property taxes above the index, Shargots said.

The board approved the early preliminary budget to allow it to “take advantage of the Act 1 increase, if it is needed,” he said.

The board took the same steps last year by approving an early preliminary budget, but ended up raising taxes in June only to the index, he said.

Under Act 1, the Taxpayers Relief Act, the district must approve a preliminary budget in January to consider increasing property taxes above the index. To exceed the index, the district also must receive an exception from the state or have the proposed tax increase approved in a voter referendum.

The inflationary index for the district for the 2016-17 school year is 0.8353 of a mill. This would increase the district’s tax rate to 26.9397 mills.

The district plans to cover part of the deficit with $500,000 from its debt service fund, money saved to pay principal on existing debt, Shargots said. That fund currently holds about $2 million.

The district is seeking exceptions from the state to allow it to increase taxes above the index to cover the remaining $515,827, he said.

The original budget motion on the agenda indicated the entire deficit would be covered with money from the debt service fund and the district’s fund balance, which drew some questions from the board.

“This looks like we can balance the budget with money on hand,” said board member Kevin Barnhart.

However, Shargots explained later that the district has used its fund balance for the last two years to balance the budget. The fund balance at the end of last fiscal year was about $2.4 million and taking any more money from the fund would push the balance exceeding low, he said.

The district plans to seek exceptions form the state for pension and special education costs. Shargots noted pension costs paid into the state retirement system are expected to increase from 25.85 percent of payroll to about 30 percent of payroll.

Special education costs also continue to increase, he said.

“That’s a concern to us,” he said.

In addition to state funding, another unknown for the district this year is the change in assessment values that could result from the closing of the Emerald Mine.

The mine property currently pays about $1.3 million a year in property taxes to the district, Shargots said. Those assessment values, however, are now under appeal, he said.

The board also voted to authorize the district to seek proposals for a $3 million tax anticipation loan that would only be used if the district fails to receive normal state reimbursements because of budget problems in Harrisburg.

The district already has received about $6 million in state reimbursements this year. Shargots said the district should be in good shape until about May but wants to be ready to receive a tax anticipation loan should no additional state revenue be disbursed.

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