School property tax increase referendum on Pike County primary ballot

But at the end of 2012, not long after she took the superintendent position, Blake reported to other administrators and the school board that the district had been overspending for quite some time.

When overspending occurred in 2009, Blake said there were “sufficient funds” to cover the deficit; however expenses continued to exceed revenue.

“We have a combination of debt and deficit ... We were using Rainy Day (fund) money to support General Fund expenses,” Blake said. “And we were at that point over $1 million. And then we were relying on bank loans to sustain our cash flow as well. And all of that combined together was several million.”

Some of the deficit could be attributed to state funding changes, according to Blake.

In 2013, PCSC exceeded the General Fund budget and overspent $2.7 million. And last year $2.3 million was overspent.

So school district officials are seeking to raise revenue through an operating referendum. While there are no contested races on Pike County’s primary ballot May 5, taxpayers will consider raising property taxes by 29 cents per $100 assessed value. If approved, it would generate about $2.3 million annually for five years.

In 2008, a law was passed allowing schools to place an operating referendum on an election ballot to provide a way for school corporations to increase revenue, Blake said. PCSC board members approved the referendum in January.

Blake said PCSC has worked to reduce expenditures in numerous ways, including staffing adjustments, salary and benefit adjustments, utility expenses, eliminating driver’s education and the corporation vehicle, and other programs. This created a savings of more than $2.6 million since 2012.

“We ended up absorbing nine of the (retired) positions,” Blake said. “Roughly half of the positions were absorbed. Of course that means we may have slightly larger classes than we had in the past. We’ve been very fortunate here that for many, many years we were able to keep classroom numbers below 25. Now we do have classes near 30.”

The current property tax rate in Pike County is about $0.90 per $100 assessed value. If the five-year referendum is approved, the projected rate for 2015 would rise to $1.19. PCSC officials point out the proposed rate is still lower than in 2008, which was $1.63, before state funding changes occurred.

A homeowner with a market value house of $35,000 could expect their taxes to increase by $17.69. While a homeowner with a market value house of $150,000 could expect their taxes to increase by $189.23.

And for farmers, if the net assessed value of one acre is $2,420, the estimated tax impact per acre would be $7.02.

“The revenue raised through the proposed referendum will not fix the deficit ... This is just one step in correcting the problem,” Blake said.

PCSC officials plan to host public meetings in all nine townships to discuss the referendum with anyone interested in learning more. Dates and times have not been set, but will be posted on www.pikecountyreferendum.weebly.com or on the dedicated Facebook page PCSC Referendum.

“It has been real easy to get side tracked on the negative,” Blake said. “But we want to get it turned around so we can talk more about the positives.”