2008-2009 Budget

The Colonial Board of School Directors adopted a 2008-2009 Budget during their June 19 business meeting. The $89,877,000 spending plan is 5.97 percent or $5,060,000 more than the previous year’s budget. The real estate tax millage rate of 16.57 equates to a 3.63 percent real estate tax increase to Colonial School District (CSD) residents. The increase is $58 for every $100,000 of property assessment or $82.50 on the District’s median assessed property value of $146,990. The tax rate is decreased from the 3.9 percent included in the 2008-2009 Proposed Final Budget passed by the Board in May, and well below the state index of 4.4 percent.

CSD will receive $2,617,231 from the Pennsylvania Real Estate Tax Relief Program that is funded by the state’s slot machine revenue. Residents of approved homesteads/farmsteads will realize a tax reduction of approximately $263.00. CSD has 9,956 approved homesteads/farmsteads eligible for the reduction in the 2008-09 fiscal year.

Employee’s salaries and benefits account for 67.61 percent of the budget, which includes 8.2 new professional teaching positions and 14 additional support staff. Unfunded state mandates in the areas of special education, transportation and health services consume nearly 18 percent of the budget or $16,076,861.

Local revenues continue to be the main source of income for the District and account for 81.43% of the budget. Those revenues include current and interim real estate taxes, transfer and delinquent taxes, public utility tax, interest earnings, payments from other districts, tuition and facility rental payments. Growth in the CSD tax base is projected to be 1.03 percent and will an estimated $653,691 of new tax revenue.

The budget includes $5.5 million of Act 511 Earned Income Taxes (EIT).  Interest earnings revenue decreased $543,489 because of the 50-percent decline in short term interest rates to 2.5 percent. The budget also utilizes $4,400,000 of the projected June 30, 2008 fund balance of $11.3 million.

State revenues comprise 14.64 percent of the budget while Federal funds account for less than one percent of the spending plan.

In other action the Board approved the District’s 2007-2013 Strategic Plan. The plan continued many of the initiatives established by Colonial’s highly acclaimed “Above and Beyond” program and also established goals for the coming years.

2008-2009 Final Approved Budget (State Budget)