Greensburg Salem OKs proposed budget with no tax hike, locks in electricity rate
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Greensburg Salem School District property owners won’t have to dig deeper into their pockets to pay their 2022-23 tax bill, according to a proposed district budget approved Wednesday at a school board meeting.
The board unanimously approved a $49.2 million spending plan that would hold the tax rate at 89.72 mills while dipping into the district fund balance for about $658,000.
The budget, which the board is expected to finalize in June, is based on a worst-case scenario that would occur if there is no increase in state subsidies to the district for basic education and special education.
Superintendent Ken Bissell has expressed concern about the revenue challenge the district could face in 2024-25. That’s when Greensburg Salem will have spent the remaining $7.7 million in extra funding it is receiving through the federal Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief program — some of which will be tapped next year to cover costs of all substitute teachers and of student and classroom technology upgrades.
To prepare for that funding loss, Bissell posed to the board: “What would any bit of a little millage increase do to the revenue? I just wanted to get the board’s feel on where we are this year and where we might need to go.”
District Business Manager Joan Wehner calculated that a one-mill tax hike would boost the district’s revenue by $231,582.
Board members said they could not support raising taxes while residents are experiencing financial stresses along with the rest of the nation.
“I’m going to have a hard time saying yes to any tax increase — this year especially — because we’re coming out of the pandemic and inflation is through the roof,” board member Brian Conway said.
Board member Frank Gazze lamented that Greensburg Salem is paying the equivalent of seven mills in tax revenue this year to cover tuition for local students who attend cyber charter schools. He said that amount is inflated compared with the true cost of educating those students.
Board member Emily Miller pointed out that residents don’t have any representation to oversee how their tax dollars are spent by cyber charter schools.
“There can be waste, and there’s nothing to rein that in,” she said. “There really isn’t a whole lot of movement at all with any kind of legislation to address this issue.”
The board approved a 2022-23 budget projection by Nutrition Inc. for operating the district’s food service program. The program is expected to experience a loss of nearly $27,000 by continuing to provide free meals to students at the high school. But Nutrition officials indicated they should be able to more than recoup that amount with about $33,000 in extra revenue, including resuming a la carte food sales at the elementary schools.
Greensburg Salem approved an 18-month agreement to purchase electricity from Dynegy Energy Services East, locking in a rate of 10.66 cents per kilowatt-hour through November 2023. Bissell said the district will have the option of extending the agreement for an additional 18 months, with a potential change in the rate.