It's great to see taxpayers get involved with the school board but this is not going to be solved at the school board level. It will have to be fixed at the state level with a different funding source. HB-76 and SB-76 are the only way to permanently eliminate the school property tax issue.

HB 76 and SB 76, The Property Tax Independence Act
A solution that makes sense for Pennsylvania  http://www.ptcc.us/solution.htm


Residents upset, say school tax too high

http://www.ydr.com/story/news/local/2016/01/14/residents-upset-say-school-tax-too-high/78796902/

James Lee had had enough.He grabbed his shoes, a piece of paper and a pen and headed outside.He knocked on neighbors' doors, trying to get as many signatures as he could.A name, an address - people who held the same frustration he felt and still feels to this day.Lee moved to the Hanover area 15 years ago and, each year, noticed he was paying more for his school tax.

He started a petition, along with Hanover residents Sylvia Shoemaker and Maxine Levin, to see if other people in the area also felt the hardship of the taxes and wanted to voice their opinion.The three presented their petition, with almost 150 signatures so far, according to Lee, to the South Western School Board on Wednesday at its public meeting.Members of the board addressed the recommendation to adopt the preliminary 2016-17 general fund budget at their next meeting Jan. 27.

The budget totals about $64 million, with a 4.69 percent tax increase over the previous year.For the 2015-16 fiscal year, the current millage rate is 18.32 mills. The new budget proposes a rate of 19.18 mills."Why is the increase necessary when in the past we functioned with less?" Lee asked.Jeffrey Mummert, secretary of the school board, noted the district cuts what it can to bring expenses down. But it also needs to allow for what can't be controlled.For example, the district must pay into some retirement-related expenses, he said, and special education costs also increased, giving them "no choice in the matter."Even with these increases, Mummert said, the budget only increased $2 million from the last year.Lee and Shoemaker also expressed concerns about the board's transparency."We want to be part of the process and not simply handed a bill to pay," Lee said.Mummert and other members of the board said the information was on the district's website as they are legally required to make it public.

"Your voice is through the legislatures," said Ray Mummert, vice president of the board. "The more communication to legislation, the better it'd be for all of us."Lee, Shoemaker and Levin all said they've reached out to state representatives but didn't find doing so helpful.Vanessa Berger, member of the board, noted that she and her colleagues on the board also pay the taxes in question by the three residents."The budget is not taken lightly," Supt. Barbara Rupp said.Jeffrey Mummert invited Lee and the others to sit down with him to go over the budget and help them understand."I'm feeling totally ignored," Lee said. "But I got contact information, and I will sit down and go through every single item with him. I just want to know what's going on with my money."