The Wyoming Area School Board during a lengthy meeting Tuesday approved a final budget for the upcoming school year that included a tax hike of 6.5% — an increase many frustrated residents in the audience said they simply could not afford.
The 6.5% tax increase is lower than the 7.2% that was initially proposed back in May.
Board President Michael Supey after the meeting declined to comment on why the board decided to vote on a lower increase, saying only that they tried to do what was best for taxpayers.
The district raised taxes 5.5% last year.
The 6.5% tax increase for the 2024-2025 school year reflects a millage rate of 21.0533 in Luzerne County and 105.4852 for Wyoming County. A mill is a $1 tax for every $1,000 of assessed property value.
For example, based on the budget presentation prepared by Business Consultant Tom Melone, a homeowner in Luzerne County with a property valued at $150,000 would pay about $193 dollars more in taxes.
By contrast, a homeowner in Wyoming County with a property valued at $35,000 would see an increase of about $318.
The difference in the millage rates for each county was concerning for residents and many questioned the accuracy of the assessed property values for Wyoming County.
District Superintendent Jon Pollard said that while Luzerne County recently underwent a re-assessment, he believed that Wyoming County had not had one in a while and was possibly operating on much older numbers.
“That might be part of the reason there is such a disparity,” Pollard said.
According to a 2022 report from the Pennsylvania Economy League, Wyoming County last underwent a property value reassessment in 1988 while Luzerne County conducted one in 2009.
The budget itself called for expenditures of $47,783,389 against of revenue of $46,537,231 resulting in a shortfall of about $1.2 million.
The budget did not take any additional state funding into account as it is unclear how much the district will be awarded because the final state budget has yet to be approved. The deadline for that approval is June 30.
Even if Wyoming Area received the $871,727 in funding Gov. Josh Shapiro’s proposed budget called for, there would still be a small deficit that would have to be made up by the fund balance.
Reasons for the Tax Increase
Melone during his presentation offered several reasons for the tax increase, including declining property values and cyber/charter school costs, both of which are issues that have plagued the district in recent years.
Cyber/charter school tuition for the 2023-2024 school year is projected to be $2,409,095, which was a substantial increase from the amount of $2,019,492 form the year before.
Wyoming Area has seen continued increases in Cyber/charter school expenditures since 2016-2017. In the school year following the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the amount nearly doubled.
Many residents then wondered why the school district was not doing more to encourage children to come back to school in person or, at the very least, encourage them to use Wyoming Area’s cyber school program instead of a competitor.
Pollard did tell parents at the meeting that he was currently working on a plan to better market the school’s cyber program, which he hopes to bring to the board sometime in July.
As far as property values were concerned, Melone explained that they have been steadily declining in both Luzerne and Wyoming County since 2015-2016, with Luzerne County expected to see a small increase by the end of this year.
Additionally, Melone noted the cost of salaries and benefits have also increased.
Residents Speak Out
The seats were packed with concerned residents at Tuesday’s meeting and for nearly two hours, the board heard from homeowners who vehemently opposed the tax increase.
“I’m lucky; I have a good job and I can pay the tax increase,” Mike Brogan, of Falls, told the board. “But at what point does it stop?”
“I watched the presentation and I understand the expenses, but everyone in this room has expenses,” said Mary Portelli, of Pittston.
She urged the board to make furthers cuts to expenditures and questioned why the district was spending so much on healthcare for employees instead of looking for another carrier.
“This is an unmitigated disaster,” said David Chaump, a resident from Pittston. “The faces in front of you, we’re strapped. We can’t afford any more in tax.”
