May 26, 2017 3 min read

WAYNESBURG – Central Greene School District will be making cuts through attrition over the next month, since the school board approved a proposed 2017-18 budget by a 5-4 vote during a special meeting Wednesday.

The budget will increase property taxes, but not above the inflationary index of 3.1 percent, according to business manager Jim Shargots. He said the budget has an anticipated expenditures of $33.9 million and anticipated revenues of $33.6 million, increasing the property tax rate by 0.8491 mills and making the total tax rate 28.2420 mills.

Shargots said the increase will cost the owner of a home assessed at $50,000 an additional $42 annually.

Before moving into executive session Wednesday, the board briefly discussed concerns with a decline in revenue and using money from the district’s fund balance, which is expected to be around $3.8 million by the end of this fiscal year.

“We’re looking at decline in revenue for the foreseeable future,” said board member Sarah Hughes.

Hughes was one of the four members who voted “no” to the proposed budget, along with Rachael Shultz, John Bristor and Bridget Montgomery.

Superintendent Brian Uplinger said the anticipated expenditures in this budget proposal were reduced from a proposal that was rejected by the board last week. He said that reduction was made possible through retirements and attrition.

Uplinger said he’ll be talking with members of the teachers’ union to discuss moving staff positions around for next year. He said the district should be able to avoid furloughs this year.

“No furloughs are anticipated at this time,” he said. “We did a lot of looking at the budget to make sure we were doing what was appropriate and making sure that our students were kept at the center of all the decisions that were made.”

Uplinger said he is not yet sure if any programs or courses will be cut because it will depend on how the attrition works out, which won’t be finalized until the end of June.

The board raised taxes by 1.2885 mills last year when it was unclear whether the district would receive any of the $3.4 million in property taxes owed by Alpha Natural Resources, which declared bankruptcy in 2015. Uplinger said the district has since received 2016-17 taxes from Alpha and expects to receive the 2015-16 allotment this month.

Also Wednesday, the board changed its scheduled June 20 meeting to 6:30 p.m. June 29, to allow the district 30 days to advertise the budget before final approval.