Proposed Scranton school tax increase lower than prior projections

Sarah Hofius Hall, The Times-Tribune, Scranton, Pa.
·2 min read

Jul. 25—Increased state funding could mean a big benefit to Scranton taxpayers.

The school district's 2024 proposed preliminary budget includes a property tax increase of 1.25%, lower than prior projections.

School directors plan to discuss and then vote on the proposed preliminary budget during a special meeting next week. Directors will then have until the end of the year to finalize the spending plan.

"We've worked incredibly hard to get ourselves to a point where we can ease the burden on our taxpayers, which is always one of our great concerns," board President Ro Hume said Tuesday.

The $213 million budget assumes a $7.5 million increase in state funding and a $14 million decrease in federal funds, due to already spending or allocating the COVID-19 relief money.

The budget also includes several new positions, including an assistant superintendent, director of information technology, an assistant principal for the cyber program and a restructuring of the safety and security department.

The district would also put $7.35 million in a budgetary reserve, an initiative of the recovery plan.

A 1.25% boost in property taxes equals a 1.85-mill increase. A mill is a $1 tax on every $1,000 of assessed property value. A property owner with an assessment of $10,000 would pay about $18 more in 2024.

The possible increase is a stark difference from prior proposed preliminary budgets that called for double-digit tax increases and had multimillion dollar deficits in the years leading up the state placing Scranton in financial recovery in 2019. The district exited the program in January and entered a monitoring phase.

School Director Katie Gilmartin, chair of the budget and finance committee, said the potential tax increase is to maintain current property tax revenue, since the city's total assessed value declines every year.

The special meeting is Aug. 2 at 7 p.m. at Scranton High School.

Contact the writer: shofius@timesshamrock.com; 570-348-9133; @hofiushallTT on Twitter.