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WRIGHT TWP. — The Crestwood School Board approved a preliminary 2017-18 operating budget Wednesday night which at this point includes a property tax increase of 3.3 percent. The hike is slightly over Crestwood’s state-mandated threshold of 3.1 percent.
A school official stated the board, on a 7-1 vote with Director Maureen McGovern the only one opposed, gave initial approval to a $38.5 million spending plan that lists taxation at about 10.2 mills.
For the 2016-17 school year, spending was set at $36.7 million and the tax rate at roughly 9.8 mills.
A mill is $1 in tax for every $1,000 of assessed property value.
Albert Melone of the Melone accounting firm of Pittston is the financial adviser for the district. Generally, Melone and the school board take several months to review the budget and make adjustments. Final adoption is traditionally on or before June 30.
According to information posted online last month by school officials, estimated revenue from local sources is projected at more than $21 million, state reimbursement at over $14 million and federal assistance at $405,700. Those projections mean the preliminary budget carries a $2 million deficit.
Adding to the uncertainty, Crestwood, like other districts, is wrestling with a proposal by Governor Tom Wolf to reduce state reimbursement for busing students to class. In state budget proposals outlined recently by Wolf, he submitted a plan where bus subsidies would be reduced by 50 percent.
For Crestwood, which in August 2016 resolved a contentious contract with Rinehimer Bus Lines, it could mean an estimated $284,00o in reduced busing reimbursement.
Besides real estate, Crestwood also receives revenue from an earned income tax of .5 percent, a $5 local services tax and a real estate transfer levy of .5 percent.
In other business:
• Superintendent Joseph Gorham reported a slight decline in total student enrollment: 2,812 at this point in the 2016-17 term.
That’s compared to 2,866 in February 2016.