Pleasant Valley School District passed its final budget Thursday night on a 7-2 vote. Directors Janet Dooner and Denise Hopely voted against the budget.

The budget includes a 1% tax increase, which is equivalent to a 0.25 mill increase. During the school board’s workshop meeting on May 7, business manager Tammy Smale explained to the board that a 0.25 mill increase brings the net tax on a property assessed at $143,289 to $3,707 annually, which is a total increase of $37.

The increase is expected to bring in an additional $560,441 to the school district. The total millage for the school district will be 26.1355 mills.

“If you file the Homestead Farmstead and you qualified for it, that net tax column will drop down to $2,800,” Smale said at the May 7 meeting.

The Homestead and Farmstead Exclusion is a state program to provide some property tax relief. The application can be found on the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development website or homeowners can contact their county assessment office.

Also available to low-income homeowners is the Property Tax Rebate. Information about the program and the form can be found on the district’s website under Departments, then Business Office.

Director Janet Dooner said she is concerned about the message raising taxes again sends.

“The message we send to the taxpayers is important,” Dooner said. She thinks that even a 1% tax increase sends a message that the school board will continue to raise taxes each year.

Dooner said that according to the CJERP (Chestnuthill, Jackson, Eldred, Ross and Polk townships) Plan, 41.4% of the district’s population are older citizens. She is concerned that continuing to raise taxes will turn younger people away from the area.

One reason Director Denise Hopely objected to the budget was due to additional purchases of furniture. Initially, furniture was purchased as part of the renovation project at the high school, but purchases have been made for all of the district’s school buildings for students as well as teachers.

“I don’t even know why we need it,” she said.

The school district used a Ready to Learn grant to cover the cost of furniture for students. The cost of new furniture for teachers was paid for from the school district’s capital reserve fund, said Tammy Smale, the district’s business manager. She explained that some of the furniture purchases have been on past budgets, and some upcoming purchases have money that has already been allocated to upcoming purchase, but the total amount is not known yet.

“The capital reserve fund can only be used for capital purchases. It can’t be used for anything else,” Smale said.

Director Norman Burger spoke in favor of the budget. He said that since 2019, the school district has increased taxes but at two-thirds of the rate of inflation. The district also has worked to reduce overhead costs and is looking for more ways to reduce those costs.

“Hopefully one day, we won’t have to raise taxes,” he said.