Plum School District will be able to balance its 2025-26 budget without raising property taxes beyond its state-imposed limit of 5.3%, according to the district’s business manager.
School districts across Pennsylvania are required by Jan. 30 to declare that they won’t raise taxes beyond their state limit or else make proposed versions of their preliminary budgets available for public inspection. Plum’s board is expected to vote Dec. 17 to declare that it won’t exceed its limit.
Ryan Manzer, Plum’s chief financial officer, told the board during a workshop meeting this week that early budget projections for next school year show the district spending nearly $77.5 million, with revenues exceeding expenses by about $36,000.
In response to a question from a school board member, Manzer would not disclose the tax rate used in the projected budget.
“It’s a sensitive question because it’s so early in the budget process that I don’t want to put a specific number out there, but it is below the index,” he said. “The only purpose of this is providing enough information to state that you’re going to be able to stay below the index.”
A presentation at the meeting looked at five possible tax scenarios.
With no change in the tax rate for a home assessed at the district’s $117,500 median value, the property tax bill would remain $2,748 before any exclusions are applied.
A 1.3% increase would increase taxes by $49 to the property tax bill; a 2.7% increase would add $98; a 4% increase would add $147; and a full 5.3% increase would add $195.
If the district does not boost property taxes, the district would wind up having a deficit of $6,900 because of a slight decrease in Plum’s total assessed valuation, which stands at about $1.66 billion, according to the presentation.
“Through an economic downturn, through the covid disruptions, through the litigation that’s happening at the county level, our tax base of our residential assessments have been very stable, more stable than some comparative districts,” he said.
Projected expenses for next year came in about 4.3% higher than the 2004-25 budget, but the state-imposed tax limit is lower.
This year’s limit, or index, had been 7.1%. Plum raised taxes 6.2% to help balance its $74.3 million budget. The tax rate is now 23.3896 mills.
Statewide, the base limit for the 2025-26 school year is 4%, down from 5.3% for 2024-25. The base limit is adjusted for each school district.
