Proposed Property Tax Hike Cut to .73 Mills for NASD

http://nazareth.patch.com/articles/nasd-s-proposed-property-tax-increase-cut-to-73-mills FROM NAZARETH PATCH Nazareth school officials have managed to reduce the projected property tax increase for the upcoming school year. And one new factor in the proposed spending plan is an unknown number of personnel cuts that equals $68,543. Superintendent Dennis Riker, who said he is not ready to reveal whose jobs would be cut, reviewed the tweaks and updated numbers at Monday’s school board meeting. The board tentatively adopted the 2013-2014 budget by a unanimous vote. A property tax increase of .92 mills has been cut to .73 mills. The .92-mill increase translated into a $72 hike for the average Nazareth area property, district business manager Bernadine Rishcoff previously said. The tax rate would be 49.28 mills, compared with 49.47 mills in the original budget. The current rate is 48.55 mills. The revised budget total of $71.43 million is actually about $589,000 higher than the $70.84 million proposed in November. It also is 4.6 percent higher than the current budget. Much of the $589,000 increase can be attributed to $600,000 in extra capital spending -- $300,000 each for technology and building and grounds. The extra $600,000 doubles the spending in each category from what was allocated in the original budget, Riker explained. Other spending increases in the revised budget include about $75,000 for a Title I teaching position that was left out of the original spending plan and about $57,000 that reflects a slight increase in the district’s share of pension costs.