Despite pleas from residents, Jim Thorpe Area School District’s board of directors did not vote Monday night to withdraw the nearly 900 property assessment appeals it recently filed against those who have purchased property in the past three years.

According to Dr. Michael Principe, board president, the governing body was acting on the advice of its attorney, Greg Mousseau.“This is a finance committee meeting and he has told us we can’t vote on this tonight because it wasn’t advertised as a voting meeting,” Principe said.

 “Believe me when I tell you this board cares about the community and wants to do what is right.”For the second straight week, over 100 property owners confronted the board about the assessment appeals, which for many taxpayers means a property tax bill much higher, in some cases triple or quadruple, from the previous version.Last week, the board voted for a continuance on the appeals, but with hearings scheduled to start the next day, the request was denied by the Carbon County Board of Assessment Appeals.Rose Douglas, a Center Street resident, fears what the large increases could mean for her and her neighbors.“I bought my residence in July 2015 and I love my house and the community,” Douglas said. “I have worked in the town for 11 years and I’m just devastated to know my taxes could double.”One of the self-proclaimed “Broadway Patriots” fighting the post-sale assessments, James Griffin hopes an eventual passage of Senate Bill 76, better known as property tax elimination legislation, ends what he calls an “abuse of power” by school boards.“You are discriminating against us because we bought our homes within the last three years,” Griffin, a West Broadway resident, said.From the outset of the finance committee meeting, Thorpe’s administration sought to take a realistic look at the district’s finances.Business Manager Lauren Kovac said while a fund balance north of $20 million may seem like a fluffy number, it dwindles quickly after long-term planning.“At the end of June we’re projecting to have $27 million and we will spend $14.5 million to get through the summer months,” Kovac said. “Of that, $7.5 million is committed and can only be used to fund pension increases or increases in health, dental or vision insurance. Now we’re down to about $6 million, which doesn’t cover two months of expenditures. Anybody who runs a business knows you should have at least three months of operating costs in savings.”Jim Thorpe is also looking at a budget deficit of $4.4 million in 2017-18 and future expenses of renovating its existing administration building or building new, replacing a leaky high school roof and paving parking lots at all three of its schools.Kovac and board members also called out the state for its “unfair funding formula.”“We receive the second lowest amount of basic education subsidy from the state of all the schools in Carbon County,” Kovac said.While Jim Thorpe receives $3.3 million, neighboring Lehighton receives $8.7 million and Palmerton gets $6.5 million.“It is a convoluted formula that has nothing to do with test scores or performance or wealth of the district,” Kovac said. “It’s unfair.”Jennifer Christman, president of the Jim Thorpe Tourism Agency, said a grassroots campaign started several weeks ago after property owners received notice of the assessment appeals has surpassed 1,100 members.“This is hurting buyers and sellers,” said Bonnie Hoffman, a Realtor. “Realtors are obligated to tell buyers that a property they are looking at could be assessed after the sale and this is what their taxes could be. The more fair way to do it is with a millage increase that divides things evenly across all property owners.”A former Pine Grove School District board member and current president of the Pennsylvania Liberty Alliance, Ron Boltz encouraged board members to have their own homes assessed if they felt it was a fair fund generation method.“I’m sure most of you are enjoying that base year assessment back in 2001 on your own homes,” Boltz said. “How would you like to have your own taxes doubled or tripled? You are dragging your feet so these folks will go through the hearings and then you’ll claim it’s too late.”Jim Thorpe’s next board meeting is scheduled for June 12.