Unless there’s a major change in numbers, taxes in the Unionville-Chadds Ford School District will increase again. During a presentation of the proposed final budget, Director of Finance Joe Deady said during the May 5 budget meeting that the proposed budget increases anticipated revenue and expenditures, and with an increase in the school property tax.
Expenditures are anticipated at almost $108.42 million, an increase of almost $2.6 million, or 2.44 percent, over the current budget. The proposed millage rates are 33.91 mils for Chester County property owners in the district and 19.25 mils for Chadds Ford property owners. The rate of increase is 3.99 percent for property owners in the Chester County area of the school district and 3.66 percent for property owners in Chadds Ford, the lone Delaware County municipality in the district.
Those two millage increases amount to a weighted average of a 3.92 percent increase, which is below the 4 percent allowed by the Act 1 index, Deady said.
The impacts of those millage increases equal an additional $344 per year for the average homeowner in Chester County, and $305 per year in Delaware County.
The largest part of the $108-plus million in expenses is salaries and benefits that total almost $80 million, or 74 percent, according to Deady’s presentation. Adding to the expenditure side is the cost of all-day kindergarten. Full-day kindergarten adds $1,015,272 to the expenditures, but the state is kicking in$94,568, leaving the district to kick in $940,704.
On the revenue side of the ledger, local sources would bring in an anticipated $87,396,092, with $81,749,092 from local taxes. Other sources include $20,323,745 from the state and $636,437 from federal and other sources.
As part of the presentation, Deady also said the district has the fifth-lowest millage rate in both Chester and Delaware County.
Even before Deady’s presentation, soon-to-be-retired Superintendent of Schools John Sanville gave an overview of the budget. He called the 2.44 percent increase in expenses “a number worth noting.”
“What that tells you is that we have a budget year over year that is increasing by less than inflation,” he said.
Sanville added that the district has had budgets over the years that are “responsible, prudent, and sustainable,” despite annual increases in expenses and taxes. Part of the presentation does show that the weighted tax average did drop in the 2020-2021 budget.
He reiterated that the increases “are below inflation and the CPI [consumer price index]. Our weighted tax increase is also below the CPI since 2018-2019 and also below the Act 1 Index.”
A full breakdown of the proposed budget may be found here.
The board will vote on the proposed final budget next week, during the May 12 work session, and then vote on the final budget during the June 16 regular board meeting.
About Rich Schwartzman
Rich Schwartzman has been reporting on events in the greater Chadds Ford area since September 2001 when he became the founding editor of The Chadds Ford Post. In April 2009 he became managing editor of ChaddsFordLive. He is also an award-winning photographer.
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