Sharon school board considers property tax increase
Jun. 15—SHARON — The Sharon City School District board members will consider raising taxes when they adopt the 2023-24 budget next week.
Superintendent Justi Glaros said the district may be in the green this year again because of the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief federal COVID pandemic grants.
ESSER grants are divided into three parts. The school district received a total of $15 million in aid spread over three years. The funding must be spent by Sept. 30, 2024.
Glaros said for the 2024-25 and 2025-26 school years, the district will be back to where it started when they had to furlough teachers in 2020.
With ESSER money, the district was able to hire back those teachers, plus additional teachers and staff. Now they have to be able to maintain that level of staffing, along with rising charter school and special education costs, and the rate of inflation.
"If we raise it a little bit each time, that might be a better plan than later on in four years, drop a bomb on everybody with an 8- or 9-mill increase," said board member Eric Wenger. "I think you have to look a little bit further into the future."
Business Manager Tresa Templeton presented a preliminary budget to the board that showed a $2.4 million deficit, but did not include ESSER funding or other state funding that she thinks might allow for a balanced or even positive budget.
The district's current real estate tax millage is 85.01 mills. One mill generates $90,000.
Board President Melvin Bandzak said the board needs to think about raising the real estate tax millage 5%, or 4.5 mills, to cover inflation. That comes out to about $1.75 a week, $91 a year, for the average property owner, he said.
If taxes are not raised now, the board would have to draw from its fund balance to cover the deficit. If the deficit is $2 million each year, the fund balance could be depleted in three years, Bandzak said, leaving the district bankrupt.
At that point, Bandzak said, the state would not allow the district to go under, but it would not keep writing checks for $2 million.
"They're going to come in and cut the hell out of any extras you have," Bandzak said. "You can forget about AP classes, your varsity sports. They're going to take away all the nice things you thought that you had and that's going to be reality, and you're not going to have the ability to raise taxes even if you wanted to."
Bandzak said the millage increase does not fully cover the deficit, but it at least combats inflation, and does not drain the district's savings.
Board member Deborah Roberson said the board needs to come up with a different solution.
"A lot of people aren't as fortunate as some, so we need to be considerate in what we're going to do," Roberson said. "We need to consider our staff and our students. We need to find a way to do it."
Board members did not discuss other options for combating a deficit.
"You only have so much time. You can't do it overnight, you can't do it in one year," Bandzak said. "If you don't start catching up now ... we got a reprieve with the COVID money. It bought us two to three years for the district. If you just sit back and say, 'We got lots of money now. We can't raise taxes,' three years from now, what're you going to do?"
Templeton was tasked with creating scenarios that depict what the budget would look like without a tax increase, and with a 1-mill and 3-mill increase. The district can increase taxes by no more than 5.53 mills before hitting the state inflation index.
The board will likely approve a final budget in its next meeting at 7 p.m. Tuesday.
Follow Melissa Klaric on twitter @HeraldKlaric or email her at mklaric@sharonherald.com
Follow Melissa Klaric on twitter @HeraldKlaric or email her at mklaric@sharonherald.com
