CV Holds Taxes Steady in Budget Proposal

Despite facing a “challenging” economic climate and cutbacks from the state, the Chartiers Valley School District does not expect to raise property taxes in the upcoming budget.

The $49.842 budget proposal will not cut any major programs and keep taxes at 19.88 mills, one of the lowest rates in Allegheny County.

“For us to put this budget together was very difficult, challenging,” said Nicholas Morelli, the district’s business manager.

because of lowered state funding and the loss of federal stimulus money, but will be able plug the hole by not replacing the director of human resources and other retiring workers. Superintendent Brian White Jr. also said they are in talks with some of the collective bargaining units to become more efficient on long-term costs that will greatly impact the district down the road.

White said the district is able to move forward with new programs such as the Freshmen Initiative and .

“We are not being devastated by this like some other districts,” White said.

Morelli praised the school board for “forward thinking” to make sure the district did not suffer from state cutbacks as much as other school districts. Some districts, , are considering merging because of the deep budget shortfalls.

“We knew the cuts were coming. Federal stimulus was only for two years,” Morelli said. “We didn’t know how deep they were.”

The majority of the funding, $19.7 million, will go to basic instruction and $5.5 million will go to special education. Slightly more than $5 million will pay for debt services.

Under this current budget proposal, a property owner with a house assessed at $100,000 will pay $1,988 in school property taxes. The school board must vote on the final 2011-12 budget before the end of June.