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EXETER — At Tuesday’s regular monthly meeting, the Wyoming Area School Board approved a proposed budget for the 2022-23 school year with a 4.6% property tax increase, the maximum allowed under state law without voter approval or a special state exemption. The vote does not make a tax increase definite; the board must vote on a final budget by June 30.
The budget projects spending a bit more that $42 million against revenue of $41.95 million, leaving a 111,001 shortfall to be covered by a surplus that is expected to be nearly $2.8 million at the end of this June. If the tax increase remains in the final budget, the property tax rate would climb from 17.9152 mills to 18.7392 mills in Luzerne County and from 86.5920 to to 91.558 mills in Wyoming County. A mill is a $1 tax for every $1,000 of assessed property value.
Business Consultant Tom Melone noted the proposal does not include any additional money from the state. For the current school year the district got about $300,000 more than the previous year. Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf’s proposed budget would increase state funding for the district by a bit more than $1.9 million, though the Republican-controlled legislature is not expected to approve the full increase.
The board also:
• Accepted the resignations of head varsity girls basketball coach Chad Lojewski and food service employee Kendra Evans.
• Approved the West Side Career and Technology Center budget for the 2022-23 fiscal year. The CTC serves five member school districts and is run by a Joint Operating Committee of School Board members from each district. The CTC budget must be approved by member school districts.
• Approved contributions for the current fiscal year to the Wyoming Free Library and West Pittston Library. The contributions are $2,000 each.
• Approved a $300 contribution to the Greater Pittston Regional Ambulance for the current fiscal year.
• Appointed four school dentists to do state-mandated examinations for grades kindergarten, three and seven for 2022-23: Dr. Steven Bonomo, Dr. Erani Pagliarini, Dr. Ann McDonough and Dr. Ryan McDonnell.
• Appointed Golden Photo Studio as official yearbook photography studio for 2022-23.
• Authorized business consultant Albert B. Melone Company to solicit quotes if necessary for securing a 2022-23 Tax Anticipation Note (TAN). TANs are short-term loans government entities sometimes take out to cover operating costs until tax revenues start coming in at the beginning of each fiscal year.
• Approved a letter of notice to the Northeast Health Care Trust that the district is reserving the right to withdraw from the trust in 12 months. The Trust is a consortium of are school districts formed to lower health care costs, and the notice of possible withdrawal has become almost routine for some districts annually to keep the option of leaving the trust that year.
• Appointed Rita Mauriello as Title I Consultant at a stipend of $6,000. Title I is a federal grant program designed to help school districts with high percentages of low-income students, and the stipend will be paid from the federal dollars.
• Appointed Rosella Fedor and Juel Anne Klepadlo as chairs for the Wyoming Area Scholarship/Awards program at a stipend of $5,000 each for the 2022-23 school year.
• Rescinded the appointment of Gina Manganiello as head volleyball coach for the 2022-23 fall season.
• Appointed James Stoss and Brenda Jurchak as 4-hour food service employees.
Reach Mark Guydish at 570-991-6112 or on Twitter @TLMarkGuydish