Riverview Officials Start Crunching Numbers

Though a final 2012-13 school year budget doesn't have to be approved until the end of June, Riverview School District officials have started crunching numbers.

On Monday, the school board held its first budget workshop. Board members discussed budget revenues, which currently are at $17.9 million.

Business Manager Frank Thompson said the district received approval from the state for two exceptions to the Act 1 index, which is the limit a school district is permitted by state law to raise taxes. The index for the 2012-13 budget year is 2.1 percent, as determined by the Pennsylvania Department of Education.

The state allows for districts to apply for tax exceptions to help alleviate costs outside of the districts' control, for example rising pension or special education costs—Riverview now can raise taxes to receive an extra $148,000 for pension costs and an extra $47,000 for special education costs.

"I don't think we'll use that," Thompson said after the meeting. "If we do, we'll use maybe $30,000 or $40,000."

The includes a 0.58-mill tax increase, which exceeds the state index limit. The current millage rate is 24.7864 mills. With the proposed tax increase, the owner of a $100,000 home would pay about $58 more next school year.

Thompson said that while officials are looking at preliminary numbers, he expects the district to receive more revenue due to the sale of property at the housing development.

A few houses in the development that sold in 2011 have yet to be assessed. Thompson said he expects about $100,000 of extra tax revenue from those properties once the final budget is adopted.

Though the outlook for revenues seems promising, there are a lot of expenditures that must be looked at—such as capital improvements, the technology budget, contributions to employee pension plans and staffing.

This year, the district contributed 8.65 percent to the Public School Employees' Retirement System. The district is expected to contribute 12.36 percent in 2012-13; 16.5 percent in 2013-14; and 20.5 percent in 2014-15.

"All school districts will be hit with this for the next four years," said Superintendent Chuck Erdeljac. "We're on this rollercoaster ride."

Officials are expected to discuss expenditures at an April 16 budget workshop. It will be held at 7 p.m. at the on Tenth Street.

"This is going to be a process for the next couple of months," Thompson said. "We're looking at guesstimates now so we can make an informed decision come June."

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