Apr 16, 2013 By Nick Lewandowski 3 min read

The Mt. Lebanon school board approved a preliminary budget for the 2013-2014 school year at its April 15 meeting, by a vote of 6-3. Board members Dan Remely, Scott Goldman and Dale Ostergaard all voted no. The proposed budget totals $83,249,503 at a millage rate of 27.67 mills, a .54 mill increase over the previous year. The millage figures do not include adjustments for changes in assessed property values.

“Today, April 15, is Tax Day,” board president Elaine Cappucci said. “Our taxes pay for individualized instruction for students with special needs or circumstances. They support music, athletic and club programs. Educating future generations is certainly one of the best uses of our tax dollars. We all prosper by educating future researchers, educators and entrepreneurs.”

She said the preliminary budget will be displayed on the district website for public review before final approval in May, and emphasized that it remains a work in progress.

The final millage increase could end up lower, particularly if the board decides to use additional fund balance to mitigate the tax increase. The administration continues to look for cost savings that would not impact programming.

Board member Jo Posti said nearly all of Mt. Lebanon’s comparator districts, such as North Allegheny and Upper St. Clair, have seen their budgets increase at a faster rate than Mt. Lebanon. “Budgets reflect priorities,” she said, “each district mentioned has made education a priority in its community. It has served each of them well.”

Board member Dan Remely, who voted no, argued the district risked putting itself in an untenable financial position. “I think we risk doing to ourselves what the state did to PSERS (the Public School Employees’ Retirement System),” he said.

Dale Ostergaard, who also voted no, said future boards would have to look hard at staff costs and salary increases to keep the district in a strong fiscal position.

Elsewhere, the board heard a presentation from Allison Lewis Lodhi, a consultant with Pursuant Ketchum, with which the district has contracted to manage its $6 million capital campaign. She explained the team is in the process of setting up information systems and establishing a volunteer structure for managing more than 37,000 prospect records. The organizational phase of the campaign should last about nine months.

The campaign is also advertising for a director and has received several resumes, Lewi Lodhi said. A volunteer interest form will be available to the public on the district’s website by the end of the week.

“I’ve already seen how committed the community is to education,” she concluded. “These are the makings of a strong campaign.”