Quaker Valley property taxes going up 2.9% again next school year

Quaker Valley School District property owners will have to pay 2.9% more in real estate taxes next school year.

The school board voted 8-0 May 21 to adopt the district’s $60.66 million final general fund budget for 2024-25. Daniela Helkowski, board vice president, was absent.

It is the second straight year for a 2.9% increase. The new real estate tax rate is 21.2362 mills, which is a 0.6085-mill jump from the current school year.

With the increase, the owner of property with an assessed value of $240,000 would pay $5,101, or $146 more than for 2023-24.

For the 3,622 properties in the district that qualify for a homestead exclusion, the amount owed for 2024-25 is reduced by a maximum of $286.21, as per a resolution approved by the school board.

“Residents who applied and are approved for the Act 1 homestead property tax relief will see an additional credit on their tax bill, which will help reduce the impact of the proposed tax increase,” finance director Brooke Baker said via email.

“We appreciate that the state has increased funding for property tax relief, which will help offset the cost-of-living-expense increases in this inflationary market that all districts are experiencing. The budget maintains the district’s high-ranking programs and services, and considers long-term funding plans for the new high school.”

About 2% of the revenue generated by the tax increase is to cover operational needs, and the remaining portion will be used in large part to help pay for the new school, according to officials.

Board member Gianni Floro said there were no major changes since the preliminary final budget was approved last month and that the board took a “fiscally conservative” approach to spending, citing concerns about property assessment decreases and the economy in general.

He said having teachers’ and administrative contracts in place represent “key factors” in balancing the budget.

“We still have some contractual things with our employees to iron out,” Floro said “Those things take time, and those are important. Those are best done in a good manner.”

Outgoing finance director Scott Antoline explained during budget discussions in April that the tax increase is necessary to balance contracted increases for employee salaries and benefits, additional special education service needs, and inflationary pressures in all areas.

Antoline will retire from the district next month. Baker was hired as his replacement in March and took over the head financial administrative role this month.

Quaker Valley’s 2023-24 budget projects revenues and expenditures at a little less than $60.66 million, representing a 4.13% overall increase compared to the current school year, including a 7.28% jump in facilities-related costs because of inflation, Antoline said.

Real estate taxes and earned income taxes make up about 80% of district revenue. Salaries and benefits make up about 68% of expenses.

Projected income includes about $40.27 million in real estate taxes, $5.76 million in earned income taxes, $3.98 million in state retirement reimbursements, $3.555 million in combined basic and special education state subsidies, $1.175 million in delinquent real estate taxes, and $571,400 in federal money.

Projected spending includes about $40.8 million for salaries and benefits, $6.473 million for debt service, $2.379 million for transportation, $1.252 million for technology, $1.118 million for central administration/business operations, and $555,000 for the Sewickley Public Library.

“The school district remains in a strong financial position, and prioritizes creating an annual budget that limits the burden on district taxpayers,” board member Stratton Nash said. “We’ve succeeded in the past and will continue to limit and mitigate tax increases.”

He said the 2.9% real estate tax increase is substantially lower than the district’s inflation-based Act 1 index set by the state Department of Education. Quaker Valley could have raised the tax by a maximum of 5.3%.

Floro noted the district was able to get some grants through the state and federal government with assistance from local legislators.

The budget is available for review at the district office and online under the finance section of qvsd.org.