ROARING SPRING - In a vote that stirred debate over a coming tax hike, the Spring Cove school board Monday passed a nearly $22.5 million budget that includes a 2.49-mill property tax increase.
District officials blamed a budget shortfall on a state funding gap, while explaining that the tax increase amounts to only a tiny percentage.
The median taxpayer would see an annual increase of less than $26, the district said.
At the meeting's start, Taylor Township resident James Smith questioned the statistic, saying he was surprised to find his taxable property above the median.
"I'm concerned it's more of a spending problem than a revenue problem," Smith said.
The 7-2 vote paved the way to fund what board members called much-needed infrastructure overhauls, including heating renovations at decades-old Central High School.
However, the tax increase led two board members to vote against the budget.
"It doesn't have to be the taxpayer who's going to take the brunt," board member Randy Eckman said.
Eckman and fellow board member Willard Thompson opposed the proposal; both had voted in May not to allow the tax hike.
The district needs to consider cuts from among its four budget priorities - students, parents, teachers and administrators - before affecting taxpayers, Eckman said.
"You're going to have to find the money from somewhere among those four priorities," he said.
Fellow board member Jeff Brennecke said the district has few income options, with taxes the only means to cover expensive infrastructure work.
"My question to you is: Where are we going to find that $4 million?" Brennecke said. "We teach. We don't make widgets and sell them for $100,000 apiece."
Eckman eventually gave up the fight, saying only "It's fine" before a roll-call vote ended with the budget's passage.
The tax increase was capped by Act 1, a 2006 state law that limits tax increases to the inflation rate unless there is a voter referendum or the district is granted a special exemption for meeting certain criteria.
Board President J. Samuel Dean said the board has little choice - members can cover infrastructure expenses now, or see costs increase as the issue is postponed.
"Every year something seems to come up. No question about it," Dean said. "I think people understand that you can't always operate on the same amount of money."
Mirror Staff Writer Ryan Brown is at 946-7457.
