Plum Schools have ‘legitimate chance’ to avoid tax hike next year
"A legitimate chance," district Business Manager
Zahorchak credits the district's increased revenue to previous tax hikes, and lower expenses to the closure of an elementary school and staff cuts.
The district raised taxes two out of the past three years beyond the limits of Act 1 because it sought and received exemptions for pension and special education costs. Act 1 limits the amount a school district can raise taxes without seeking the permission of voters unless it can qualify for one of several exemptions to the law.
The board raised taxes for the 2017-18 school year by 0.866 mills and took out a 12-year,
It also raised taxes by 0.8327 mills, furloughed 26 teachers, went from full to half-day kindergarten and closed
The district faced at least a
"The previous three years we made a lot of tough decisions that previous boards couldn't make," Schlauch said. "We got through the toughest of times as a school district. I'm proud of what we were able to accomplish."
Major staffing moves made this year beyond the furloughs include hiring a new superintendent, assistant superintendent, athletic director and director of technology.
The district's Pivik and Center elementary schools also changed from K-6 to K-4 with the closing of Regency. Fifth and sixth grades were moved to
"We're looking out for the best interest of the students with all the decisions we made," Schlauch said. "I think there's still ways we could create better efficiency with staffing and our teacher/student ratios, prioritizing out capital projects and finding energy cost savings. I'm optimistic that we can get all three of those done. Not raising taxes is very realistic. It's a strong possibility and doable ... We definitely still have some work to do."
Zahorchak said a lot of the 2019-20 budget still rides on the teachers contract, certified property assessments and state revenues.
Assessments are expected to be certified in January, and state figures may be ready by February.
"We don't have a good sense of the numbers yet," Zahorchak said. "We don't know what the salaries are for next year."
Zahorchak deferred contract questions to the district's chief negotiator,
The district could raise taxes for 2019-20 by 0.65 mills under the Act 1 index. A property owner with the median home value of
A proposed preliminary budget will be posted for public inspection no later than
Zahorchak said these actions help provide an option to seek special exemptions to raise taxes beyond the Act 1 index if necessary.
The administration plans to prepare several budgets in the next few months, including one with a tax hike just in case.
Aside from taxes
The district is going with a "zero based budget" next school year for principals and department heads.
Those leaders in previous years were given a budget based on a formula of money per student, and would then submit their plans for board approval.
The elementary formula for this school year was
The new budget approach means more financial planning will be done in the business office than the principals' office.
"This year we're asking them to send requests that will get scrutinized," Zahorchak said. "Instead of waiting for an allocation and figuring out your budget based on that, we're able to start planning how we intend to use the money. I think the biggest advantage is being more disciplined to the budget process. It requires each person to be more thoughtful on what they want to submit forward, and also requires them to be thinking well ahead of time."
All building and department budgets are due to the business office on
The district's budget calendar is expected to be posted on the district's website, pbst.net, within the next few weeks. The district must post a proposed final budget for public inspection 30 days prior to its adoption.
A final budget must be adopted by the end of June.
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