May 24, 2018 2 min read

CHARLEROI – Charleroi Area School Board Tuesday passed the 2018-19 preliminary budget that includes a .55-mill tax increase.

The increase is the maximum allowed under the state index and will bring the district’s tax rate to 16.38 mills. A homeowner with property assessed at $100,000 would pay an additional $55 in taxes. The 2018-19 budget is balanced at $24,123,000 and has increased 2.39 percent, or $573,000, from last year’s budget.

The millage increase will generate an additional $291,850 in revenue. Cost-saving measures in the budget include the elimination of positions through attrition, joining a new health care consortium, outsourcing technology services, restricting administrative positions, creating an in-house cyber school, combining transportation routes for efficiency, freezing additional compensation for extracurricular activities and athletics and partnering with Charleroi Regional Police Department to provide security for the district.

Business Manager Crystal Zahand said, “Again, we have successfully implemented cost-reduction initiatives the past three years, however, driving costs, like retirement, cyber school tuition and special education services continue to increase.”

Superintendent Edward Zelich said increases in health care, salaries and cyber school and special education costs all present a challenge to balance the budget with no furloughs and little or no tax increase.

“We have worked very hard and have used some out-of-the-box ideas to cut cost,” he said. The district has entered into sharing services with other districts and is looking to share more services to help cut costs.

“The district is analyzing expenditures to make possible recommendations for additional cuts before next month’s meeting to avoid a tax increase, including the possibility of eliminating positions and programs,” board President Ken Wiltz added.

The full budget proposal may be found at http://www.charleroisd.org/DistrictBudget.aspx. The public is invited to comment on the proposed budget during the next public meeting at 7 p.m. June 26, when a final budget is expected to be adopted.

In other news, the board hired Brady Barbero as athletic director at a salary of $8,500, effective, July 1. Barbero is a high school learning support teacher in the district and lives in Roscoe.