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YATESVILLE – Pittston Area residents will see a 3.9 percent tax increase when the property tax bills come this year.

Budget figures for 2010-2011 were agreed to Thursday evening at the Pittston Area School District board meeting. The spending plan passed 9-3.

The 3.9 percent, which translates to 0.47 mills, is the maximum allowed by the state that the board could levy without seeking voter approval or state exceptions. It means the property tax rate for the coming year will be 12.7990 mills.

A mill is $1 tax on each $1,000 of assessed property value. The budget calls for $41,178,847 in spending.

Board member Robert Linskey said he had a number of problems with the budget, not least of which was that the state-mandated increase limit did not cover the staff salary increase, let alone the pension issues.

He, Dr. Ross Latona and Terry Best voted against the budget, while members Anthony Guariglia, Bruce Knick, Michael McAndrew, Martin Quinn, Mark Singer and Marilyn Starna voted for it.

In addition to approving a three-installment payment system for taxes, with payments due Aug. 31, Oct. 29 and Dec. 15, the board also announced the maximum homestead and farmstead exclusion would be set at $106 per property, based on a maximum tax reduction from property value of $8,282.

Based on current numbers, the budget contains an $800,000 balance to cover insurance costs, although business manager Albert Melone noted that insurance expenses had been lower than budgeted under the district’s self-insurance program.

The budget also held $400,000 in reserve for expected pension cost increases, even though the district has been advised that state action to resolve the pension funding problems appeared to be under way, Melone said.

The finances were also improved by a proposal to refinance a 2025 bond in such a way as to save the district $73,000 in costs while not changing the amount of the payments, or the term of the bond.