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Schools

Chester School Taxes Up in Twp, Down in Boro

Chester school board OKs $22 million spending plan for 2013-14

Taxpayers in Chester Borough will see a $15 reduction in their annual school tax bill, while those in Chester Township will see a $20 increase.

The Chester Board of Education last Thursday approved a $22.028 million spending plan for 2013-14. The new budget is $782,873 larger than the 2011-12 budget. With the annual school board election held in November when candidates are up for election, the public does not get to vote on this budget.

The local tax levy is $19.255 million, a $303,792 increase from 2012-13, but that increase is partly offset by a $215,147 decrease  in the district’s debt service that resulted from a timely refinancing of long-term debt, said business administrator Mary Jane Canose.

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The result is an $88,645 increase in the local tax levy, she said.

State aid for the 2013-14 budget is $1.017 million, the same as  in 2012-13.

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In the Borough, while the total school tax rate will rise by 1 cent per $100 of assessed value, the total assessed value of the borough dropped another $8.6 million from 2012. That combination produced a $15 drop in the school tax on an average home.

The decrease was smaller than the $50 tax decrease in 2012-13, when the total assessed value of the borough dropped $23.4 million, while the tax rate dropped 8 cents. 

In the Township, the total tax rate for 2013-14 rose .7 cents, but the total assessed value of the township dropped $11.1 million, a combination that produced a $20 school tax hike.

In 2012, the  township saw a $60 million drop in the total assessment, which in combination with a 1.4 cent increase in the school tax generated a $39 tax increase for  the average township homeowner.

Canose said the district will take $802,470 from capital reserve to complete roof repairs at all three district schools, replace  floor tiles at Bragg Elementary, and to make security improvement  at all schools, including security lobbies, new classroom  door hardware and improvements to the schools’ camera systems..

Capital reserve funds have already been set aside, she said, and do not increase the tax levy.

The district is estimating it will have 1,235 students in regular and special education classes next year. That is eight fewer  students than this year,  and 70 fewer than in 2011-12.

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