Published Sunday, June 30, 2002
in state budget
districts
Ottaway News Service
HARRISBURG -- Lawmakers are providing $196 million in extra state aid for Pennsylvania's school districts under the new state budget approved early Saturday.
The budget provides more funding for environmental programs through a $4-a-ton hike in state landfill disposal fees and triples the state cigarette tax. The package includes authorization for a statewide voter referendum this fall to approve a $100 million bond issue to assist volunteer fire companies.
Here are key spending items that impact Mercer County.
SCHOOLS: The instructional subsidy for the 501 school districts goes up an overall 2 percent. Districts receive an overall 1.5 percent increase for special education. But districts are also getting substantial chunks of aid in two other categories: a $100-per-pupil increase in state aid to cover district costs for transporting students to non-public schools and a 30 percent reimbursement to cover costs of students going to charter schools and cyber charter schools. These initiatives are popular with GOP lawmakers and offer a political counterweight to $75 million in the budget to assist a reform plan for Philadelphia schools.
But this aid comes with a caveat for some school districts. Lawmakers stipulated that school boards which adopted budgets based on assumptions they would get a one percent subsidy hike will have to reopen their budgets for fiscal 2002-03 in July to reflect the adjustment. They are to apply the new funds to either cut property taxes or make rebates, reduce debt or restore cuts in education programs. Most districts adopted their budgets in recent weeks to meet their own deadlines, but didn't have the advantage of knowing what the state aid package would be.
» Commodore Perry School District will receive $3 million in basic education subsidies, a 7.1 percent increase as well as $28,000 in charter school reimbursements and $7,000 in transportation aid, according to a Senate Democratic budget analysis.
Amounts of state funds for other area school districts include:
» Farrell, $5.4 million, a 5.9 percent increase in subsidies as well as $73,700 in charter school monies and $200 in transportation assistance.
» Greenville, $4.8 million, a 2.1 percent increase in subsidies as well as $80,000 in charter school monies and $18,000 in transportation assistance.
» Grove City, $6.6 million, a 3.1 percent increase in subsidies as well as $72,000 in charter school monies and $8,000 in transportation assistance.
» Hermitage, $4.7 million, a 1.7 percent increase in subsidies as well as $47,000 in charter school monies and $32,000 in transportation assistance.
» Jamestown, $2.3 million, a 4.5 percent increase in subsidies as well as $18,000 in charter school monies and $3,000 in transportation assistance.
» Lakeview, $5.2 million, a 4 percent increase in subsidies as well as $29,000 in charter school monies and $4,200 in transportation assistance.
» Mercer, $4.4 million, a 2.3 percent increase in subsidies as well as $37,000 in charter school monies and $8,000 in transportation assistance.
» Reynolds, $6.5 million, a 3.2 percent increase in subsidies as well as $97,000 in charter school monies and $14,000 in transportation assistance.
» Sharon, $10.1 million, a 3.1 percent increase in subsidies as well as $114,000 in charter school monies and $100 in transportation assistance.
» Sharpsville, $4.3 million, a 4.9 percent increase in subsidies as well as $30,000 in charter school monies and $10,400 in transportation assistance.
» West Middlesex, $4 million, a 5.1 percent increase in subsidies as well as 25,000 in charter school monies and $6,300 in transportation assistance.
GROWING GREENER: The package includes a $4-a-ton hike in state trash disposal fees to provide long-term funding for environmental programs. It diverts about half of the fee revenues in 2002-03 to help balance state budget.
HIGHER EDUCATION: The 14 state-owned universities, including Edinboro and Slippery Rock Universities, take a hit with a three percent, or $14 million, cut in state aid from current levels. The cut in state aid virtually assures a tuition hike this fall for the students in the State System of Higher Education.
DPW INSTITUTIONS: The budget provides a $2 million cut in funding for the state centers for the mentally retarded, which includes Polk Center in Venango County.