EXETER — Wyoming Area School Board has passed a proposed budget for the 2017-18 school year that increases property taxes to the index ceiling.

Board Business Consultant Tom Melone, a certified public accountant with Albert B. Malone Company, said the raise to 3.4 percent allows the board to better prepare for debts that will count against its 2018-19 budget.

“In 18-19, their bond debt will go up by $900,000,” Melone said. “We’re trying to incrementally prepare for that.”

Future budget drafts can’t raise the 3.4 percent any higher, but the number can be decreased. In June, the budget will go to a final vote.

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The bond debt that will come into play is in addition to any budgetary increases; the proposed budget for 2017-18 increases costs by $1,577,564, from $33,312,342 to $34,889,906.

A property tax increase will increase local tax revenue by an estimated $484,006, from $17,803,685 to $18,287,691.

The early tax increase will allow the board to add to its funds and account for rising costs coupled with debt.

“We’re trying to get ready, but in this area now there’s really no guarantee anymore,” Melone said. “You try to do as much as you can and, hopefully, we’ll work towards meeting those obligations.”

The board had $2,264,444 in funds at the end of the 2015-16 school year. Melone estimates a fund balance of $2,981,437 to end the 2016-17 year.

A closer look

A number of factors contribute to Wyoming Area’s budget increase of $1,577,564 from 2016-17 to 2017-18.

Salaries raised by previous collective bargaining agreements and salaries of new hires, including an in-house social worker, alter last year’s allocation for employee salaries. The benefits category saw an increase due to a state-mandated rise in retirement rates and a rise in healthcare rates.

The district’s budget for purchase services also increases in the proposed budget. This category includes money paid to cyber and charter schools, transportation services and other third-party services the district enlists.

“Although we’ve gotten a handle on our charter and cyber number, some of the outsourcing for those other institutions that are required is going to require a little bit of an increase,” Melone said. “There are increases in transportation.”

Debt payments and transfers rise $304,903 in 2017-18, from $1,084,411 to $1,389,314.

“That’s basically now starting to reimplement some of the debt service payments we’ve saved for the prior three years through our debt refinancing,” Melone said.

The remainder of that debt will be implemented in the coming years.

Student recognition

Wyoming Area School District Superintendent Janet Serino presented an award to Senior Student Representative Emily Uritz. Uritz served on the school board during the 2015-16 and 2016-17 school years. Her duties included the monthly student body report, an update that highlighted news and achievements within the school community that may otherwise go unnoted by the board.

“I feel a little bit of pride when I bring something up about someone who accomplished something that maybe wouldn’t have been said,” Uritz said. “I feel really proud when someone gets recognition for accomplishing something and I get to say it.”

This fall, Uritz will begin her undergraduate studies in theater at Pennsylvania State University.

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Budget includes increase in property taxes

By Gene Axton

gaxton@timesleader.com

Reach Gene Axton at 570-991-6406 or on Twitter @GeneAxtonTL