With the June 30 end of the fiscal year only a few weeks away, the majority of area school districts will soon make official what most property owners have come to dread: another school property tax increase.
A Times story published today notes that of the 19 area districts, only five do not plan to raise taxes: Riverside, Midland and Big Beaver Falls Area in Beaver County; West Allegheny in Allegheny County; and Ellwood City Area in Lawrence County.
That means 14 other districts will be demanding more in taxes from property owners, with increases ranging from 1.75 percent in Western Beaver to 4 percent in Freedom Area. In addition, Freedom announced last week that it plans to lay off two teachers in an effort to balance its budget for the upcoming year.
School districts continue to cite increasing pension obligations as a significant driver in the need to raise taxes, as well as contracts with unions representing teachers and staff.
Districts are restricted by state law as to how much they can raise taxes unless they ask for an exemption that would allow a higher rate. Many districts have taken the approach of raising taxes by a small amount annually rather than holding off until a bigger increase is necessary.
All of which has many residents upset over their seemingly ever-increasing property tax bills.
What’s particularly galling to many is that the situation in Beaver County will likely only get worse. And that comes back to one undeniable truth: The county has too many public school districts for a student population that has been on the decline for more than four decades.
Enrollment data from the Beaver Valley Intermediate Unit shows that over the past 30 years, every school district except Midland — which has only 266 students — has seen a dramatic drop in enrollment. Aliquippa and Rochester Area have seen declines of more than 40 percent, and eight others are down nearly 30 percent or more.
Overall, the student population has dropped from 29,544 in the 1986-87 school year to 21,142 in the 2016-17 school year. That’s a decline of more than 28 percent.
State legislators have practically run away from any discussion of forced school mergers since they undertook that task back in the late ‘60s and reduced the number of districts from some 2,500 to 501. A lot of legislators lost their jobs because of that move, so there seems little appetite for it now.
We had hopes that the voluntary merger of the Center Area and Monaca school districts several years ago would spur similar moves in the region. So far, it’s been little more than a unique event rather than a trend.
Perhaps it is time for the state to step in and, if not force mergers, make them financially appealing to districts. If nothing happens, you can rest assured that property tax increases will become as regular as the change of seasons.