The Hatboro-Horsham School Board approved the 2011-2012 school year budget at its June 20^th, 2011 board meeting, a spending plan that will help the district provide high quality education programs at a reasonable cost to the community.

 

The School Board, administration and staff have worked very hard over the past eight months to develop a budget that is cost conscious and educationally sound, and have faced some significant challenges due to significant decreases in local and state revenues, the requirements of Act 1 (Pennsylvania Taxpayer Relief Act) and anticipated future costs involving retirement benefits and facility improvements.  Despite these difficulties, Hatboro-Horsham has been able to maintain an average annual tax increase over the last ten years that is the second lowest in the county.  On average, taxes have gone up 3.00% annually over this period.  The district’s overall average budget or expenditure increase over that same period has been the lowest of the 21 school districts in the county.

 

The 2011-2012 spending plan totals $83,811,432, a ($1,100,000) or (1.3%) decrease from last year’s budget.  To balance the budget, the School Board agreed to raise the millage rate from 24.647 to 24.992, an increase of 1.4 percent, the lowest in over 10 years.  The new millage rate will mean the average Hatboro taxpayer’s real estate bill will go up by about $42, while the average Horsham taxpayer’s real estate bill will go up by about $61.  The increase for every $100,000 in assessed property value will be about $34. 

 

This year, under the terms of Act 1, all school districts were required to keep their tax increases at or below a state index, which was set at 1.4%.  Districts that needed to go above that index could seek exceptions or voter approval to do so.  Through continued conservative fiscal management, Hatboro-Horsham was able to keep its increase at or below the index for the fifth year in a row. 

 

Overall, the increases in the budget come from projected salaries and benefit costs, fuel and utility costs, facility maintenance requirements, educational programming needs, and technology replacement costs.  Although difficult to manage in many cases, conservative budget formulation and aggressive cost containment strategies have helped keep these costs in checks for the upcoming year.