North Penn School Board Passes 2020-2021 Budget with 2.6% Tax Increase

North Penn Now Staff•

The North Penn School District (NPSD) Board of School Directors approved a $278,122,120 final budget for the 2020-2021 school year at its action meeting on June 18, which included a tax increase of 2.6%.

“Developing a budget in the midst of a school shut down and global pandemic has certainly been challenging” said Dr. Curtis R. Dietrich, superintendent, NPSD. “But I believe the budget passed by our Board of School Directors reflects this community’s commitment to provide the very best education, no matter what.”

In a statement, district officials said the tax increase would equate to a $100 increase for the average NPSD homeowner. The NPSD tax rate is the fifth-lowest rate in the county.

The tax increase is the base Act 1 index permitted by the state. The district said factors impacting the increased budget include employee contracts, rising special education costs, Public School Employees’ Retirement System (PSERS) and pandemic response.

Close to $2 million in federal grants will fund reopening North Penn schools so they are better prepared to manage COVID-19. The CARES Act funding (worth $984,263) and the School Safety and Security Grant (worth $975,785) will provide the following:

Purchase of cleaning and sanitization supplies
Purchase of personal protective equipment
Modification of existing areas to mitigate the spread of infectious disease
Mental health services and supports for students affected by COVID-19
Purchase of educational technology for distance learning
Other health and safety programs, items or services necessary to address COVID-19

“As a school board, we could not be prouder of the school district’s response to the challenges presented by COVID-19,” said Tina Stoll, president, NPSD Board of School Directors. “And I believe the budget developed and approved will address the needs of our students whether in our schools or learning from home.”

Even with the tax increase, there remains a budget deficit of $6.2 million. Due to what the district described as “prudent budgeting, wise investing and continuing efforts to raise revenues and decrease costs,” district officials said they are in a position to use capital reserves to offset the deficit.

“It is always the district’s goal to develop a budget in an informative and transparent way with input from all of those whom it impacts,” said Steve Skrocki, chief financial officer, NPSD. “It is equally important to provide tax relief when possible and want to remind the community of the district’s tax relief program, which is in its third year and recently expanded.”

Skrocki cited a three-pronged approach that the Board of School Directors took to provide relief to taxpayers due to the pandemic.

Increasing installment payments from three to six. Property owners can now spread out their payments from July through December.
Lowered the real estate tax penalty from 10% to 5%.
Expansion of the property tax and rent rebate program to 50% of the state amount.

Eligible individuals can receive up to $487.50 via the district’s rebate program, which now includes any supplemental payment taxpayers may receive from the state.

For the fifth year in a row, the Association of School Business Officials (ASBO) International awarded NPSD with its Meritorious Budget Award (MBA) for excellence in budget presentation. The MBA program promotes and recognizes excellence in school budget presentation and enhances school business officials' skills in developing, analyzing and presenting a school system budget.

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