Based on a survey conducted by the Pennsylvania School Boards Association (PSBA) of 332 of the state’s 500 school districts the approaching fiscal year is expected to be worse than the current one. That’s despite the new funding formula, more money in the K-12 basic education appropriation, despite fewer teachers and non-teaching staff compared to 2010, and talk of pension reform (which based on initial impressions is not expected to bring immediate relief).
The survey projects 70% (about 232 districts) of the respondents think they will raise property taxes. Taxpayers in Allegheny County’s school districts know that story quite well over the past decade. From the 2006-07 Fiscal Year through the 2012-13 Fiscal Year (seven fiscal years) the average school property tax rate rose from 21.94 mills to 23.89 mills (1.95 mills, or 9%). About a quarter of a mill each year.
When the County’s reassessed values went into effect and districts adjusted millage for 2013-14, the average rate was 20.22. Since that year, through the current one (2016-17) the average rate has climbed to 21.24. That’s 1.02 mills, or 5%, and again about a quarter of a mill each year. From fiscal year to fiscal year since the reassessment (FY14 to FY15, FY15 to FY16, and FY16 to FY17) about 50% or more of the districts in the County increased millage rates–not as high as the predicted percentage from the survey, but fairly consistent.
