Pleasant Valley can’t raise taxes next year without referendum

The Pleasant Valley School District can’t raise property taxes for the next school year from the current 3.2 percent without going to referendum, business manager Susan Famularo told the board at the buildings and grounds meeting Monday night.

The Pennsylvania Department of Education’s Act 1 index for the 2020-21 school year would have allowed the district to raise taxes to up to 3.6 percent without conducting a referendum, Famularo said.

But the state code doesn’t give the district this option because of the countywide reassessment that updated property values this year, Famularo said.

The drafted preliminary 2020-21 budget will be available in December, according to the current timeline. The final budget must be adopted by the end of June, with any potential referendum to be scheduled before the end of April.

Directors also discussed new hires for security personnel.

Chief Lynn Courtright said that currently with two vacancies, only four officers are serving the district’s four schools. The district is actively seeking to hire a full-time and a part-time officer.

Courtright asked the board to consider converting the part-time vacancy to a full-time position to better cover end-of-day events and to reduce overtime hours for the department.

“There was an accident down on the drive going back into the bus lot this evening. And I came down, but if I had a police officer on scene I could have had somebody there momentarily to handle it,” Courtright said.

“We have had several incidents recently with irate parents having to be escorted off the property,” Courtright added. “A uniformed presence of a police officer goes a long way.”

While the part-time position is already in the budget with a salary of $29,277, the full-time position is not, Courtright said. Hiring a full-time officer with benefits would cost $77,465.