CLEARFIELD – Next week, the Clearfield school board will consider a 2014-15 tax index resolution, stating it will not raise taxes more than its calculated index.
The Pennsylvania legislature passed the Taxpayer Relief Act on June 27, 2006. It requires school districts to limit tax increases to the level set by an inflation index unless the tax increase is approved by voters in a referendum or the school district obtains from the state Department of Education or a Court of Common Pleas certain referendum exceptions.
However, the Taxpayer Relief Act also allows school districts to elect to adopt a resolution that it will not raise the rate of any tax for the support of public schools for the following fiscal year by more than its index. The resolution must be adopted no later than 110 days prior to the date of the election immediately preceding the upcoming fiscal year.
The Clearfield School District’s index for 2014-15 is 3.0 percent. The school board will consider a resolution next week, stating it will not raise the rate of any tax more than its index, said Superintendent Terry Struble.
By adopting the resolution, Struble said the board certifies that increasing any tax at a rete less than or equal to its index will be sufficient to balance its final budget for the upcoming-year. He said the board will begin deliberating its budget in May and then finalize it in June.