WEST MIDDLESEX, PA. Approved budget raises property taxes

The tax bill for the average residential taxpayer will go up about $81 a year.
By HAROLD GWIN
VINDICATOR SHARON BUREAU
WEST MIDDLESEX, Pa. -- Property taxes will go up by 4.5 mills in the $11,041,081 budget adopted by the West Middlesex Area School Board.
That's 4.5 new mills, which are the equivalent of 13.5 old mills under the current tax base.
Mercer County changed its property tax assessment ratio from 33.3 percent to 100 percent of a property's assessed value this year, tripling the value of a mill and tripling its cost to taxpayers.
The average residential taxpayer in the West Middlesex Area School District will be paying $18 for each of the new mills, and the 4.5-mill increase approved Monday means tax bills will jump about $81 in fiscal 2002-03.
A new mill generates about $64,000, and a 4.5-mill increase will boost property taxes for the district by about $280,000.
The new millage stands at 53.17.
Fund balance
Superintendent Albert Jones said the school board also is tapping its fund balance -- a savings account for school districts -- for $572,000 to help balance the new budget. That will leave about $300,000 in that fund, he said.
The school board was looking at a 10-mill tax increase when it started working on the budget, but a decision to refinance an old $10 million bond issue borrowed to finance a high school renovation project in 1993 helped reduce what was needed, Jones said.
Refinancing the loan at a lower interest rate netted the district $370,000 in interest savings that it was able to get up front in the new bond issue, he said.
State regulations say that money can only be used for capital improvement items, so the school board was able to work it into the new budget to buy computers, fix roofs and pay for the Oakview Elementary School renovation project, Jones said.
There were no staff furloughs, but the district will replace three of five teachers who retired at the end of the 2001-02 school year, he said.
The budget allocates 2.5 mills of the tax increase to operating costs and sets aside the remaining 2 mills to help cover debt service on the Oakview building.
That's the equivalent of 6 mills at last year's tax ratio. The board raised property taxes 9.8 old mills last year for debt service, bringing the total so far to 15.8 old mills to pay off building loans.
School officials have said a total of 18 old mills will be required to cover all the debt, which means taxpayers can expect to see their tax bill for 2003-04 increase by about one more new mill next year to complete that financing.
gwin@vindy.com