School tax up again, and the district is out of room

What happened

The school tax levy for 2026-27 is $25,309,859, up $1,529,852 or 6.43%, which the district put at about $27.67 a month or $332 a year on an average assessed home of $448,100. That comes on top of a 29% increase the year before, worth about $1,109.64 a year on an average home, which the district was able to levy only because a one-time state programme let 150 districts exceed the 2% cap. Together the two years add roughly $1,442 a year to an average household. The 2026-27 levy is exactly the district's legal maximum: the 2% allowance plus a $1,054,252 health-care adjustment, with banked capacity recorded as zero both this year and carried forward. A borough-wide revaluation nearly doubled assessed values, so the published school tax rate falls from 1.9736 to 1.2286 per $100 even though the levy rose.

Why it matters to families

Because the levy is at the cap with nothing banked, the board cannot raise local money again next year without asking voters, which is why the November referendum exists. The falling tax rate on the bill is a result of the revaluation, not a tax cut, and reading it that way would be a mistake. Health insurance is the main reason the bill rose: the district's health benefits cost 16.2% more in 2026-27 at $8,521,000, and employee benefits now equal 45.9% of salaries.

The evidence

The 2026-27 board budget presentation gives the levy of $25,309,859, a 6.43% increase of $1,529,852, and a tax impact of $27.67 a month and $332 a year on an average assessed home of $448,100. The 2025-26 presentation gives the prior year's increase as $5,014,967, a 29% rise worth $92.47 a month or $1,109.64 a year on an average home of $450,200. The full 2026-27 budget file's cap worksheet shows a levy cap of $24,255,607 plus a health-care adjustment of $1,054,252 equalling the adopted levy exactly, with banked cap available and carried forward both zero, and records health benefits of $8,521,000.

The source