SHARPSVILLE SCHOOLS New budget includes 6-mill property tax rise

Refinancing a loan will save the district $673,000 in interest.
By HAROLD GWIN
VINDICATOR SHARON BUREAU
SHARPSVILLE, Pa. -- The average annual residential property tax bill will go up about $108 in the Sharpsville Area School District in the new fiscal year beginning July 1.
That's what the 6-mill property tax increase enacted by the school board will cost taxpayers.
The new budget, approved Wednesday, totals $11,504,662.
The 6 mills will generate about $360,000 in new revenue.
The bad news on the tax increase was coupled with some good news on plans to refinance a $10.55 million loan borrowed in 1999 to build the Sharpsville Elementary School.
The board approved the refinancing of that debt, which will save the district $673,000 in interest costs over the remaining 20 years in that bond issue, said Dr. Derry Stufft, superintendent.
The old bond issue carried interest rates ranging from 3 percent to 5 percent while the new one has interest rates starting at 1.05 percent and gradually rising to 4 percent, Stufft said.
The new loan will be structured so that Sharpsville will see $180,000 of the savings in the first year in the form of a lower debt service payment, he said. The rest will be spread over the life of the loan.
Other aspects of budget
The new budget has only one staff reduction, a teaching position cut through attrition.
It sets the district's total property tax millage at 60.
School officials said they were able to cut $500,000 in proposed additional spending out of the budget but still had to tap the district's savings account for $435,000 to balance the new spending plan.
A $330,000 increase in employee health-care insurance and a $75,000 jump in employee retirement fund contributions accounted for much of the increased spending.