Palmerton SD budgets for police

Two police officers, two elementary math specialists and a 1-mill tax increase are the latest additions to a proposed Palmerton Area School District 2019-20 budget that inches closer to a board vote.

At the direction of the board, business manager Ryan Kish said he would add $190,000 to the budget for the officers, the same amount budgeted for the positions in 2018-19. That money was eventually diverted to physical building improvements.

The original $190,000, Kish said, covered salary and benefits for the two officers, a vehicle and supplies. The board, however, hasn’t committed to getting a vehicle or how much it would spend on supplies, training, etc.

“I don’t think the vehicle is a necessity, but safety is number one,” said Director Tammy Recker. “I’d rather spend money having manpower to directly serve our students and staff. This has been something we’ve talked about for a while.”

In voicing her support for the added positions, board President Kate Baumgardt, a teacher at Carbon Career and Technical Institute, said Frank DeMatto, CCTI’s school police officer, has proved invaluable.

“He really takes on a lot,” Baumgardt said.

The community has voiced its desire to see more security, Director Sherry Haas added, which the officers would help provide.

One-time funding opportunities such as the Safe Schools Grant and a grant from the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency are available to apply for, Kish said, if the board moves forward with the officers.

The district’s insurance liability, he added, would go up between $2,000 and $2,500.

Two math specialists, one at S.S. Palmer and one at Towamensing Elementary, were staffing requests projected to cost around $95,000 each including salary and benefits.

“This will help our test scores and our math program as a whole,” Haas said.

Kish said he would have updated budget numbers by Friday, but the additions, coupled with a possible 1-mill tax increase figures to put the district just over $34 million in expenditures and just under $32 million in revenue, with around a $2.1 million deficit, which would need to be covered by the fund balance.

On Tuesday, Kish said he projects the fund balance to be around $4 million following the 2019-20 school year.

He said the district has also budgeted for a high school special education teacher, at $74,590 with salary and benefits.

Students attending outside cyber or charter schools, as well as those attending schools such as Behavioral Health Associates, have resulted in an increase of around $400,000 to the district.

Several board members, including Recker, suggested the district look at offering its own cyber program to keep some of those students in house.

Tax increase

The board on Tuesday discussed whether it could afford to hold the line on taxes given the added positions and a fund balance on the decline.

A majority of board members favored a 1-mill increase, which would add $290,000 of revenue and result in a $43 increase to the average Palmerton taxpayer, Kish said.

One of the other options presented was raising taxes 1.76 mills, the most the state will allow this year without the district going to a referendum.

“I would be fine with 1.76,” Director Barry Scherer said. “We’re projecting a fund balance that could be zero in five years. Nobody likes seeing taxes go up, but I think it’s inevitable. Ten years ago the board was faced with cutting programs because it didn’t have money. You don’t want to get in a situation where you can’t fund your budget and you can’t raise taxes past the index.”

Fellow board member Josann Harry said she could only support a 1-mill increase, and even that would be tough on older property owners.

“I feel for our old people on a limited and fixed budget,” she said. “I’m not saying I’m not for raising taxes, but I’m not for going to the index. I have to justify it when we do raise taxes.”

Kathy Fallow, who advocated for a half-mill tax increase last year when the board did hold the line, said the fund balance is going down and the need for a millage increase is still there.

Palmerton is scheduled to vote on a proposed budget on May 21, with a final vote due in June.