By SUSAN RUMBLE

Special to The Press

Parkland School District Business Manager Leslie Frisbie presented estimates of revenues and expenditures for the 2023-24 budget at the January personnel and finance committee meeting, along with a recommendation to stay within the Act 1 Index determined by the Pennsylvania Department of Education.

The index for the new fiscal year is 4.1 percent.

At the Jan. 17 meeting, the board adopted a resolution to not raise taxes higher than the index.

The action establishes the ceiling for any potential tax increase for 2023-24.

At the 4.1 percent increase, the allowable millage rate would be 16.5519, an increase of 0.6519 mills over the 2022-23 rate of 15.9000.

If the new millage rate is adopted, it could bring in an additional $5.8 million over the current rate of taxation.

Frisbie provided an example to The Press of how the 4.1 percent increase would affect district residents.

“The average residential taxpayer has an assessed value of $220,000 on their property,” said the business manager.

“Based on that average assessment, if we raise taxes to the max, not that we are definitely doing that, the average impact or increase to your tax bill would be $149.”

She noted the information represents the maximum allowable tax increase without going to referendum and does not imply a recommendation for a tax increase.

In her January budget summary, Frisbie estimated $225,943,571 in expenditures for 2023-24 and $217,018,003 in revenue. The $8,925,568 shortfall could be made up through the Act 1 tax increase and transfer from the capital reserve.

As the budget preparation process continues, Frisbie noted areas of focus include real estate assessment growth, staffing changes, cyber/charter tuition, bid pricing for fuel, new debt service, equipment replacements, use of grants form the federal pandemic emergency fund (ESSER), and use of the fund balance.