LOWER POTTSGROVE >> After rejecting by a 7-2 margin a proposal to lower taxes by a quarter percent, the Pottsgrove School Board voted unanimously Tuesday to adopt a $65.4 million budget that does not raise taxes.
The push to actually lower taxes came primarily from school board President Rick Rabinowitz, who pushed unsuccessfully last year for a budget that did not raise taxes.
The only other board member to support his motion was Al Leach.
All the board members praised the administration for delivering a budget that does not raise taxes – a first in recent memory – to the point that the words “Utopia” and “Shangri-La” were used to describe the budget – definitely a first.
But Rabinowitz and Leach said they wanted just a bit more.
Rabinowitz said the symbolic value of actually being able to lower taxes outweighed the small risk of the additional $90,000 that would need to be cut from the budget to achieve it.
Several methods, including using the capital reserve fund to pay for part or all of the three new school buses the district buys every year to rotate its fleet, were offered.
For the past several years, the district has ended the fiscal year with more money than the budget had anticipated and Rabinowitz said the risk was small.
But Business Manager Dave Nester had about all the risk he was willing to recommend.
“Zero is Utopia in my world,” said Nester referring to the absence of a tax hike. “It’s the first time I’ve seen it in my 15 years here and I would like to see it again before I retire.”
“I don’t think anyone will remember a quarter percent drop this year, but they will definitely remember a larger increase next year,” said Nester.
“I agree, zero is Shangri-La,” said Rabinowitz, “but I’m greedy on behalf of the seniors in our district, which has the fourth highest tax rate in Montgomery County.”
“Zero was the goal and the administration deliver,” said Leach. “But I am the kind of guy who will then try to go for just a smidge more,” he said, noting that several of the district’s reserve accounts represents “money that is just sitting there.”
But the other board members argued they had asked the administration to deliver a budget with no tax hike and that is exactly what they had done.
“I can’t remember last time zero tax hike. Maybe it was when the Taxpayers Alliance controlled the board,” said Diane Cherico.
“I think zero is fantastic,” said Ashley Custer.
Board Vice President Matt Alexander said he too was “happy with zero. It seems like we got there with very little work on the part of the board.”
After adopting the budget, the board also adopted the tax rate that funds it. It will remain at 37.7158 mills, or $38 per $1000 assessed property value.
The board also certified the state Homestead tax break, funding by gambling revenues, which reduces most Pottsgrove tax bills by $266.
The board also unanimously renewed what are often called the “nuisance taxes:” 1 percent earned income tax; per capita tax of $5 levied on all Pottsgrove residents 18 or older; 1 percent real estate transfer tax and the mercantile tax (1 mill for Wholesalers; and 1.5 mills on retailers).
