MERCER COUNTY Sharon schools budget comes up short for year

The board raised real estate taxes by 7.9 mills this year.
By HAROLD GWIN
VINDICATOR SHARON BUREAU
SHARON, Pa. -- A proposed version of the Sharon City School District's 2004-05 budget shows a revenue shortfall of $265,000.
School directors and administrators will either have to cut proposed spending to cover that shortfall or raise taxes to make it up.
That's the equivalent of 2.8 mills of property taxes; 1 mill costs the average residential taxpayer $16.50. A 2.8-mill increase would amount to about $46 a year.
The budget proposal, showing $23,868,211 in spending but $23,603,200 in revenue, was unveiled at a school board work session Wednesday.
Cuts were made
Melvin Bandzak, school board president, credited the administration with already doing a lot of trimming in the budget.
When it started out, the district was looking at a $900,000 revenue shortfall, he said.
"It's still in the working stages," he stressed, noting the board isn't through looking for ways to cut spending.
Dr. Donna DeBonis, superintendent, said that staffing and programs are being reviewed, but she declined to speculate about possible cuts.
The district is looking at extensive remodeling at its Case Avenue Elementary School, which has a price exceeding $10 million, but school directors said that project will be put on hold.
Not part of budget
It won't be a part of the 2004-05 budget, they said.
The board raised taxes 7.9 mills, an 18 percent jump in real estate taxes, in the current year's $22,850,700 budget.
It also cut the equivalent of 17.4 employee positions, primarily by not replacing people who resigned or retired.
The board will formally introduce the new budget at its meeting Monday. Passage must occur by June 30.
Revenue for the current year has fallen behind expenses.
Business Manager James Wolf told the board that revenue stands at $15,608,000 so far, and spending has reached $16,202,000.
He said the district has cash on hand but has to borrow $1,125,000 from a tax revenue anticipation note secured earlier in the school year to help cover an $800,000 debt service payment, Friday's payroll of $600,000 and some $300,000 in bills that will be due Monday.
The district will be able to repay that money when it gets its state subsidy check in June, Wolf said.