As anticipated, the Unionville-Chadds Ford School District budget for 2012-2013 will raise taxes for the district’s Chester County residents.
At the same time, however, the school tax will drop for residents in Chadds Ford Township, the sole Delaware County township in the district.
School Board members voted 8-1 for the budget during their June 18 meeting. The plan calls for appropriations of slightly more than $71 million with a millage rate of 25.18 — up 0.66 mills — for Chester County residents and of 21.44 — down 0.38 — for Chadds Ford residents.
A mill is a tax of $1 for every $1,000 of assessed value. At the new rate, Chester County property owners will be paying $2,518 in school property taxes for every $100,000 of assessed value. In Delaware County, the tax for the same assessment would be $2,144.
Board member Holly Manzone, from Region B, referred to the spending plan as a “maintenance budget.”
“The idea of this budget is we’re not adding anything, Manzone said after the meeting. “We’re hoping that we’re not taking anything away. What we tried to capture this year was status quo.”
The only dissenting vote came from Region C Representative Frank Murphy of Chadds Ford. He voted no because of the tax hike.
“I believe we could maintain the school district budget at the exact same dollar amount as voted on tonight, and I believe we can supply the same services, programs and benefits for our students, but we didn’t need to raise taxes as we did,” he said.
Murphy went on to explain that the board could have tapped into a reserve fund that has $150,000 more than the board policy. He said the policy calls for a 5 percent reserve, but that reserve is now 5.23 percent.
“So, by simply reducing the reserve a bit,” he said, “we’d be able to provide the exact same budget, exact same programs and exact same services to our students, but not raise taxes as much as we did.”
Murphy was asked if tapping into the reserve was a slippery slope. He agreed that it could be, but that there was sufficient amount above the 5 percent threshold and that tapping into some of the overage would be “totally compliant with board policy, totally compliant with good accounting principles and totally compliant with good school district governance and not harm the district whatsoever.”
Board member Kathy Do, also from Region C, but in Pennsbury Township, said she respects Murphy’s position, but disagrees.
“My concern has to do with what we’re seeing in other districts, districts that are fighting bankruptcy and insolvency. I felt we needed to keep our reserve as strong as possible at this time to insure that does not happen to Unionville,” Do said.
She added that the budget is “appropriate for the current time.”
“Right now, we are experiencing a serious financial situation. We are seeing what is happening in other school districts in the region. We needed to pass a budget in which we could sustain our programs with as little pain as possible to the taxpayers, but at the same time, maintain our educational mission,” she said.
Do is also pleased that the board was able to pass a budget that did not force any layoffs.
Other business
• Board members voted unanimously to raise school lunch prices to $2.50 for elementary school students and to $2.75 for others. It’s an increase of $.25 for both. The prices reflect implementation of the federal law, “The Healthy, Hunger Free Kids Act.”
• Members also voted to consolidate the positions of food service and transportation supervisors. Marie Wickersham, the former supervisor of food services, was reclassified as supervisor of food services and transportation.
• The board, along with Superintendent John Sanville, is in the process of deciding how much to charge nonprofit organizations for using school facilities. Organizations such as Unionville Recreation Association, Southern Chester County Soccer and KAU Little League have been using facilities at no cost, but the board and administration thinks they, and others, should now pony up. Exact figures have not been decided upon yet, but estimates range from $4 up to more than $28 per hour.
-- By Rich Schwartzman
(1 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)
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