Act 1 of 2006 budgetary procedures for school districts have been in place for over a decade now and for the 2018-19 school year today is the deadline for school districts operating on a fiscal year calendar (July 1st to June 30th) to pass a preliminary budget or pass a resolution stating that their property tax rate will not exceed the Act 1 index (cap).

Two districts in northern Allegheny County, Shaler and Hampton, have taken the resolution path and won’t exceed the upper limit placed on their millage rate for the upcoming fiscal year.  For Shaler, their index is 3.1% and for Hampton, 2.4%.  School districts can raise taxes greater than their index in a given fiscal year by either obtaining an exception from the Department of Education or submitting a ballot measure to the electorate in the district.

Since school districts in Allegheny County recalculated their millage rates in 2013-14 following the reassessment, both Shaler and Hampton have increased their millage rates each year with Shaler’s rate increasing by an overall percentage of 12% and Hampton by 7%.