2.1 Percent School Tax Hike Could Get Higher

The Bethlehem Area School Board voted Monday night to increase the district’s school real estate tax by 2.1 percent, though the final budget the board adopts in June could have a larger increase.

With one member absent, the board first deadlocked 4-4 on a 2.4 percent tax increase that would have added five full-day kindergarten classes. Board member Sudantha Vidanage was absent due to a family emergency, according to Board President Mike Faccinetto.

Board member Basilio Bonilla said Vidanage had written that he was in favor of the higher increase, but that did not count at Monday’s meeting.

Monday’s vote was a preliminary budget adoption, which under state law is required to be done at least 30 days before the final budget is passed. The board is scheduled to cast the final vote on its 2013-14 budget at a special meeting June 17.

There are currently six full-day kindergarten classes district-wide, while the rest of the 40-plus kindergarten classes in the district’s 16 elementary schools are half-day.

For a typical homeowner with an assessed property value of $50,000, a 2.1 percent tax increase would mean the school tax bill would go up by $49.50. Another 0.3 percent increase would add about $7 to that.

The current school tax rate is 47.09 mills, which translates to an annual tax bill of $2,354.50 for that same typical homeowner. A mill is $1 tax for every $1,000 of assessed property value.

The vote for the 2.1 percent tax increase was 5-3, with Bonilla, Aurea Ortiz and William Burkhardt dissenting. Bonilla and Ortiz had voted for the 2.4 percent increase. Burkhardt had also rejected that, though he voted for a budget amendment that added five full-time kindergarten classes.

Burkhardt said he did not believe either proposed tax rate provided enough revenue for the district to do what it needs to do.

In rejecting the 2.4 percent tax increase, Burkhardt was joined by Michele Cann, Irene Follweiler and Eugene McKeon, who had all voted against adding five new full-day kindergarten classes for financial reasons.

Faccinetto and Shannon Patrick voted for both versions of the budget. Faccinetto said many parents are opting to send their children to private charter schools instead of the district’s public schools because charter schools often have full-day kindergarten.