SHARON, PA. Camera bids run above budget

District real estate tax receipts are running ahead of last year.
By HAROLD GWIN
VINDICATOR SHARON BUREAU
SHARON, Pa. -- Bids for the installation of a 48-camera surveillance system at Sharon High-Middle School came in $22,000 higher than anticipated.
Sharon City School Board has said it wants a video surveillance system for the building, which is undergoing a $17 million renovation, and architect Greer Hayden of HHSDR of Sharon presented bids during a board work session Wednesday.
Blackhawk Neff of New Castle was the low bidder at $177,148, Hayden said. That's $45,000 below the next-lowest bid by McCurley Electric Inc. of Bessemer, but it's $22,000 more than the district had budgeted for the expense.
Hayden said the video system includes a half-dozen tilt-and-zoom units and building exterior cameras, and four monitoring stations -- one in the central office and one in each of the three principals' offices.
Dr. Donna DeBonis, superintendent, said the contract for the work will come up for a vote at Monday's meeting.
Hayden said it will take four to six weeks to get the video equipment and the system should be operational by Dec. 6.
He said the total building project is 94 percent complete.
Report on tax collections
In other matters, business manager James Wolf told the board that real estate tax collections for the 2002-03 school year are running ahead of this time last year.
Wolf said that $3,359,459 had been collected as of Wednesday as compared to $2,957,765 during the same period last year.
Part of that may be attributable to the fact that the school board raised real estate taxes by 3 mills this year, which is costing the average residential taxpayer an additional $45 annually.
The district still needs $826,000 in real estate tax revenue to meet the budget. Wolf said the district should cover that amount, noting that Sharon was able to collect $958,000 in the last 31/2 months of 2001, he said.
Collection of the district's $15 annual per capita taxes are down from last year, Wolf said. The total so far is $47,116 as compared to $48,274 at this point last year.
The board said it will introduce a change in the student dress and grooming policy Monday to ban sleeveless shirts and other tops.
gwin@vindy.com