AASD discusses possible tax hike
‘Real estate tax is our only true option to increase revenue,’ Prijatelj says
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The Altoona Area School District says taxes could increase nearly $19 in the next fiscal year for a property valued at $69,500, the median property value.
While not specifying a projected millage rate, the increase would be based on the increase allowed by the state's Act 1 index.
Online state Department of Education figures show Act 1 allows the district to increase property taxes by up to 4.3%.
The suggested tax hike would be $18.80 more for a property valued at $69,500 or $40.57 for a $150,000 property.
Altoona Area School District Superintendent Charles Prijatelj said: "It isn't until we get to the very high extreme (in property values) that we see taxes much larger, referring to the 11% of properties whose tax increase will be $81.14 or greater.
The state is projecting it will take six years for school districts to recover the revenue lost as a result of business closures, job losses and downsizing, Paula Foreman, community relations director, said after the meeting.
"Real estate tax is our only true option to increase revenue," Prijatelj said during a public tax and budget presentation Wednesday evening.
Another major topic in Prijatelj's presentation was cyber charter schools.
Cyber charter school costs for the district have increased by about $1.3 million this year, "a big hit to us," Prijatelj said. The updated projection, he said, would be that costs for this program would increase by $1.8 million.
"Quite simply," Prijatelj said, "you can make a difference. You can contact your senators, your legislators to support cyber charter funding reform. This will make a big difference in our budget moving forward because we can do 500 students for $1 million, but we're spending $4.5 million for 325 kids."
Just two members of the public attended the presentation, much to the displeasure of board member Rick Hoover, who said people need to pay more attention.
"Quite frankly, I expected a lot bigger output of more people showing up from the community," Hoover said. "What we're trying to do is become fiscally responsible and turn this ship in the right direction. It's not just about tax dollars, it's what are those tax dollars going toward and where (are we) going?"
Hoover said that while higher taxes certainly aren't ideal, there's a bigger picture of the one goal that is important for the district to keep in mind.
"If we're not investing in the education of our kids, we're dropping the ball. We have to educate the students in the area and that comes at a cost. Listen, nobody wants to pay taxes. I certainly don't, but when we're talking about educating students, which is our responsibility, we've got to do the best we can do," Hoover said. "I for one am proud of the steps we are taking to right this ship."
Mirror Staff Writer Andrew Mollenauer is at 814-946-7428.