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Metcalfe urges Corbett to reject Sv tax waiver
Source:
Cranberry Eagle
Written by:
Jared Stonesifer
Published:
January 25, 2012
HARRISBURG——— State Rep. Daryl Metcalfe on Friday asked Gov. Tom Corbett to reject the Seneca Valley School District’s “latest scheme” to raise taxes by denying the district’s application for Act 1 tax waiver exceptions.
The school board on Monday authorized the district’s administrative staff to apply for exceptions to the state, which, if granted, would allow the board to raise property taxes by more than what’s allowed under law.
The move is designed to help the board close a projected $4.8 million budget deficit for the 2012-13 school year.
Seneca Valley’s index, or rate by which it is allowed to raise taxes this year, is 2 percent, which equates to a 2.11-mill tax increase. If the board wants to raise taxes by more than that index, it must seek permission from the state.
The current tax rate is 105.6 mills.
In his letter to the governor, Metcalfe, R-12th, did his best to ensure that the state denies Seneca Valley’s application for exceptions.
He asked Corbett to “strongly encourage your administration to carefully scrutinize” Seneca Valley’s “latest maneuver” to increase taxes without first having a voter referendum on the matter.
He also told the governor that all exceptions under state law should be abolished, and suggested instead that any tax increase above the index must be approved by a voter referendum.
Although the school district has yet to officially submit its application for exceptions to the state, Metcalfe said it’s a certainty that if the district applies, it will get permission to raise taxes above its index.
That is because 228 school districts across the state applied for exceptions last year and all were granted by the state, according to Metcalfe.
“During these tough economic times, school board members, school administrators and educators need to work together to find alternatives to resolve budget issues rather than increasing the burden on taxpayers,” he said.
Metcalfe also slammed the school board for not “making the appropriate cuts to account for the additional funding needed” and instead relying on “a near guaranteed tax increase without voter approval” to help balance the budget.
In an interview Friday afternoon, Metcalfe said he decided to send the letter only after numerous conversations with upset constituents.
“I’ve heard from a number of taxpayers in the school district and throughout my district that are upset with the callous disregard this school board has for the families that live in the district,” Metcalfe said.
“They continue to think they’ll get away with spending and just ask for exceptions, with disregard for any concern the voters might have.”
In a statement Friday, Linda Andreassi, Seneca Valley director of communications, said district officials were unaware of Metcalfe’s letter until notified Friday by media outlets.
Regardless, Andreassi said Superintendent Tracy Vitale has been talking to local and state politicians “with the hopes of having frank conversations on education.”
Andreassi added that Vitale on Friday stopped by Metcalfe’s district office in Cranberry Township to discuss the issue with him further.
“In his absence, she left a message with the office staff and looks forward to having a face-to-face dialogue with him,” Andreassi said.
School board members have previously noted several times that, even if the district is granted permission to raise taxes above its index, that the exceptions only would be one of several tools used in budget discussions and that the exceptions might not be used at all.
The school board is expected to get a decision regarding the exceptions back from the state’s Department of Education by the end of February.
The proposed 2012-13 district budget is $99.6 million with revenue of $94.8 million.
Bruce Mazzoni, a Cranberry Township supervisor, said Friday that school districts across the state are in financial duress not because of the school boards that run them, but because of decisions and legislation passed in Harrisburg more than 10 years ago.
The entire dilemma, Mazzoni said, goes back to when the state Legislature enacted Act 9 in 2001, a law that increased state legislators’ pensions by 50 percent but also increased teachers’ pensions by 25 percent.
Part of the burden of paying for teachers’ increased pension costs fall on the school districts, Mazzoni said, which is a major factor for why so many school districts have problems making ends meet with balanced budgets.
Metcalfe voted against the Act 9 pension increase, Mazzoni said, but he is still culpable because he signed up to accept the 50 percent pension increase after the law was passed.
“It’s sort of ironic that a guy who personally accepted the 50 percent pension increase has an issue with its effects on schools,” Mazzoni said. “The state has kicked the can down the line, but the school district doesn’t have that option.”
Mazzoni called Act 9 “the biggest liability in our state’s history” in terms of its financial ramifications, and added that school districts’ hands are tied when it comes to obeying that law.
“The school boards have no choice,” he said. “They are obligated to meet those pensions and obligated to give our kids a quality education.”
In response, Metcalfe railed against Mazzoni’s assertion that Act 9 is responsible for the financial woes of school districts.
He also called Mazzoni “a typical rino (Republican in name only)” and “a man who doesn’t mind taking from his neighbors to make himself look good” in the form of tax increases.
“The pension system of state legislators has nothing to do with, in any way, shape or form, the revenue steams going into school districts or with the tax increases Seneca Valley is proposing,” Metcalfe said.
“They are a direct result of the school board settling on an unfavorable union contract with the teachers’ union several years back.”
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