Susquenita School District - Budget - Real Estate Taxes - Act 1 Adjusted Index

Act 1 Adjusted Index

The Act 1 of 2006 Index regulates the rates at which each school district can raise property taxes in Pennsylvania. Districts are not allowed to raise taxes above that index unless they allow voters to vote by referendum, or they seek an exception from the state Department of Education. The base index for the 2011–2012 school year is 1.4 percent, but the Act 1 Index can be adjusted higher, depending on a number of factors, such as property values and the personal income of district residents. Act 1 included 10 exceptions including: increasing pension costs, increases in special education costs, a catastrophe like a fire or flood, increase in health insurance costs for contracts in effect in 2006 or dwindling tax bases. The base index is the average of the percentage increase in the statewide average weekly wage, as determined by the PA Department of Labor and Industry, for the preceding calendar year and the percentage increase in the Employment Cost Index for Elementary and Secondary Schools, as determined by the Bureau of Labor Statistics in the U.S. Department of Labor, for the previous 12-month period ending June 30. For a school district with a market value/personal income aid ratio (MV/PI AR) greater than 0.4000, its index equals the base index multiplied by the sum of .75 and its MV/PI AR for the current year.

The School District Adjusted Index for the Susquenita School District 2006–2007 through 2011–2012.

  • 2006–07 – 5.2%, Base 3.9%
  • 2007–08 – 4.6%, Base 3.4%
  • 2008–09 – 5.9%, Base 4.4%
  • 2009–10 – 5.5%, Base 4.1%
  • 2010–11 – 3.9%, Base 2.9%
  • 2011–12 – 1.9%, Base 1.4%
  • 2012-13 - 2.3%, Base 1.7%
  • 2013-14 - 2.3%, Base 1.7%

For the 2012-13 budget year, Susquenita School Board did not apply for exceptions to exceed the Act 1 Index. For 2012-2013, 274 school districts adopted a resolution certifying that tax rates would not be increased above their index; 223 school districts adopted a preliminary budget leaving open the option of exceeded the Index limit. For the exception for pension costs, 194 school districts received approval to exceed the Index. For special education costs, 129 districts received approval to exceed the tax limit. For the exception for pension costs, 194 school districts received approval to exceed the Index. For special education costs, 129 districts received approval to exceed the tax limit. In Area School District the approved real estate tax rate Increase due to exceptions was 3.7148 mills.

Susquenita School Board applied for several exceptions to exceed the Act 1 index for the budget in 2011 including: special education costs, maintenance of local effort, and pension costs. In the Spring of 2010, 135 Pennsylvania school boards asked to exceed their adjusted index. Approval was granted to 133 of them and 128 sought an exception for pension costs increases.

Read more about this topic:  Susquenita School District, Budget, Real Estate Taxes

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