Bennett Provides Moon School Board with Financial Forecast

The Moon Area School Board Monday authorized the school district to seek approval from the Pennsylvania Department of Education for an Act 1 referendum exception. 

Under the Taxpayer Relief Act, a school district that adopts a preliminary budget with real estate taxes that exceed its index may seek an exception to the Act 1 ceiling on raising taxes, according to the department of education. 

If granted, the exception does not necessarily mean that the district will increase taxes.  

The measure was approved in a 5-to-3 vote; board President Sandra McCurdy and board members Jerry Testa and Laura Schislervoted "no" on the motion. 

Alan Bennett, district director of fiscal services, provided board members with a five-year financial projection for the district at the meeting. Click here to view the district's 2012-2013 preliminary budget, which calls for a 3.2 percent tax increase. 

Bennett said the district could have "some serious budgetary concerns as we travel through time" if the board does not consider tax increases while completing the final budget. 

"The economic times that we're struggling through have caused problems throughout the nation. You're going to see school districts across the country dealing with this," said Bennett, who recommended that the board approve the measure to seek an Act 1 exception. 

"We're lucky," he said. "Because we have a significant fund balance. We have a war chest to weather this."

Bennett said he received on Friday the township's assessed property values, which totaled $1.911 billion. Last year's assessed values were $1.898 billion, he said.  

Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald, who took office this month, new county reassessments invalid and announced that the county would continue using base-year assessments from 2002. Judge R. Stanton Wettick, meanwhile, has ordered Pittsburgh City Schools to continue using the latest assessment figures. 

Other items of interest at the meeting:

Former board president Mark Scappe spoke during the public comments portion of the meeting, expressing concern that board members may receive advice on district building projects from an outside consultant. 

McCurdy has said an unnamed resident offered to consult with individual board members on a pro-bono basis regarding district building projects, including ongoing change orders to the middle school renovation.   

"I caution the board from taking the advice of anybody not hired by the district," he said. "Listen to the professionals who you've hired." 

McCurdy said the consultations will be informal and not discussed during meetings. 

"If we ask questions, he will answer," McCurdy said. "It's not going to be something that's a part of the discussion. It's up to us as board members to make the decisions." 

• The board approved change orders related to the middle school renovation project at an increased cost of $49,783.55. The orders include a new automatic smoke detection system as recommended by Moon Township Fire Marshal Charles Belgie. 

• The board approved a proposal from Van Strien Consulting Services to provide USAC Schools and Libraries Program E-Rate consulting services at a cost of $4,000.

• The board accepted a proposal from Tower Engineering for enhanced heating, ventilation and air conditioning services for at the high school at a cost of $25,000 to be charged to the 2004 bond fund. 

• The board accepted a proposal from Institutional Specialties Inc. to install control wiring to the district's softball and baseball field scoreboards at a cost of $2,480. The project will be charged through the 2004 bond fund. 

• The board approved a February trip to Hershey, PA, for high school marketing students. 

Correction: The original version of this article incorrectly stated that the board approved a motion authorizing a bidding process for cell phone remediation. The board in fact tabled that motion. The article has been edited to reflect that change.