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The Bethel Park School Board has approved a final general fund operating budget of $110.4 million for the 2024-2025 school year. This year’s spending plan aims to address rising costs and sustain the quality of education that district families have come to expect. The district's budget has been structured to manage decreasing revenue and increasing healthcare costs, transportation, and charter school tuition fees, all of which mirror trends across Pennsylvania school systems.
School districts across the commonwealth, including Bethel Park, are confronting significant funding challenges just as pandemic-related grants are set to expire. This dramatic financial shift has necessitated some difficult decisions for every school district in the region.
The district has faced significant financial challenges over the past two years, including a $2.5 million reduction in tax revenue due to decreasing assessed values and appeals stemming from changes in the common-level ratio, a measure of property value assessment compared to market valuations. As the ratio continues to decline, the number of appeals will likely increase, negatively impacting the school district’s primary revenue source. Despite those hurdles, Bethel Park remains committed to maintaining educational excellence.
In May, L. Douglas McCausland, the district’s Business Manager, introduced a comprehensive plan proposing a tax increase to address budgetary shortfalls. The newly approved budget incorporates a 6.2-percent tax increase, resulting in a 1.5222-mill rise in real estate taxes. The budget includes funding for the newly adopted elementary reading program and an instructional coach to support teachers with the new program.
With the tax increase, the real estate tax rate for 2024-2025 will rise to 26.0748 mills. For a property valued at the municipal median of $155,000, the annual tax will be $4,041.59. Properties qualifying for a homestead exclusion will benefit from a $258 reduction.
School board president Barry Christenson expressed the board's reluctance to raise taxes but emphasized that court-mandated changes to the common-level ratio (CLR) significantly impacted the district’s budgeting process, leaving it with few viable alternatives.
“We unexpectedly lost roughly $2.5 million in assessments from our budget because of the CLR court ruling,” Christenson stated. “In Bethel Park, that’s nearly the equivalent of a mill, which is a substantial loss.”
McCausland added that unless local political leadership mandates a county-wide reassessment, those losses will continue to affect the district's finances and shift the heavier school tax liability from commercial property owners to residential property owners, given the current court-mandated CLR approach. “This isn't a one-year problem. Our most recent county-wide reassessment was 12 years ago. It’s well past time for another one,” he said.
Personnel costs comprise 74 percent of the budget and remain the largest expenditure at $77.9 million. This includes an overall 5.2 percent increase in staffing costs plus an additional 10.6 percent rise in medical insurance costs.
The budget anticipates spending increases driven by inflationary measures affecting every part of the national economy. Here in Bethel Park, inflation has impacted many areas, including salaries, benefits, facilities, transportation, retirement costs, and special education. With so much of the budget dedicated to salaries and benefits, the district underscores its investment in retaining and supporting its dedicated staff.
Bethel Park’s budget plan addresses current financial challenges and positions the district for continued success by prioritizing educational quality and fiscal responsibility.
According to the most recent figures, Bethel Park remains firmly ensconced in the middle of Allegheny County school districts’ millage rates, including lower tax rates than neighboring Upper St. Clair, South Fayette, South Park, and Mount Lebanon.
Under state law, Bethel Park’s 2024-2025 school year budget must be submitted to the commonwealth by June 30, 2024.