Harrisburg School District Lincoln Administration Building
The Harrisburg School District recently announced an updated proposed 2023-24 budget, which includes a tax increase.
At a May 23 board meeting, district officials discussed a proposed $219.8 million budget, with a 3.25% property tax hike.
When the district first shared its proposal in April, it did not include a tax increase. However, the approved 2022-23 $223.8 million budget, passed last June, did include a tax hike.
According to the district, the increase would specifically support the future of the district’s long-vacant and blighted William Penn High School.
“There’s been a lot of discussion and a lot of ideas brought forth about the future of William Penn,” Dr. Marcia Stokes, chief financial officer for the district, said. “No matter what we decide to do with the building, there’s going to have to be some type of investment.”
While Stokes said that the district doesn’t yet have a finalized plan for William Penn, the money would create a fund for whatever officials decide to do with the building in the coming years, whether that may be to demolish or renovate it.
The increase would bring the property tax millage rate from 30.78 in 2022-23 to 31.78 in the coming fiscal year. This would generate about $1.4 million, according to Stokes.
“I just have a bit of reservation around a tax increase for something specific that we still don’t know what we want to do with,” said board director Steven Williams. “Without a clear definition of what our intentions are, I find it hard to support something like this.”
The school board must approve a tax increase, exercising the one major power it holds under state receivership.
Other changes since the district first proposed the budget include an increase in money being spent funding tuition for students attending charter schools, as more students have recently transferred to charters. The district also updated staff salaries and medical insurance rates. Officials also added extra funds to support a contract with the city for the employment of crossing guards, among other changes.
The proposed 2023-24 budget would also utilize $35.5 million in federal Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) funds for expenditures like salaries, recruitment and retention bonuses, HVAC replacements and Steele Elementary School renovations, among other things. According to Stokes, this may be the last district budget to incorporate ESSER money, as it is scheduled to end in September 2024.
Stokes said there will likely be additional changes before a vote on the final budget, on June 27.
For more information, visit the Harrisburg School District’s website.
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