SUNBURY – For the second year in a row, property owners in the Shikellamy School District are handed a tax hike. During Thursday’s public meeting, the Shikellamy School Board unanimously approved the 2018-19 budget that includes a two-mill real estate tax increase.
School Board President Wendy Weist, “We also have some increases in student enrollment, which required us to add a couple of new positions in order to maintain class sizes and maintain the programs we have existing in our school district.” The $48.5 million budget also includes increases in healthcare, salary and pension costs.
But some good news for taxpayers, Business Manager David Sinopoli says despite the rising student enrollment, the increase still went down to two mills from the originally proposed three mill increase, “We were able to do that by looking at our special education costs the enrollment that we were having in students coming back, we were trying to gauge that, and also we took a look at our delinquent real estate tax collection, we were able to raise that project somewhat.”
Sinopoli says it’s still too early to begin determining whether some relief could come to taxpayers next year. He cited unknown state revenues and unknown programs that could be added or changed. Last year, Shikellamy property owners saw taxes raised by one mil.