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"This is a tight budget. Costs for things like health insurance are going up while at the same time revenues from interest earnings and earned income taxes are going down," said Laura Cowburn, district assistant to the superintendent for business services.
"It's tough. We're doing without a sixth-grade teacher, curbing travel and putting off technology upgrades. Basically, we have to ask ourselves, 'What can we afford to stop doing so we can afford to cut back?' " she said Monday. "But we're doing the best we can, even trying to generate revenue … by renting out space on our baseball field fence."
The addition of 1.357 mills raises the school district's tax rate to 24.357 mills.
For the owner of a property with an assessed value of $80,000, taxes owed to the school district for the 2009-10 will increase $108.56 to a total of $1,948.56. For the owner of a $100,000 property, the increase means that property taxes will go up $135.70 to a total of $2,435.70.
On Thursday, school board members gave the go-ahead to a budget that brings in $21,282,072, including $7.2 million from property taxes, $67,000 from district per capita taxes, $800,000 from earned income tax from the state and $150,000 in earnings.
Total expenditures for the upcoming school year, according to the budget, total $21,874,233, including $2.1 million to service the school district's current $14 million debt incurred during recent renovations to Park and Taylor elementary schools, as well as the construction of a new high school stadium in 2005.
Columbia is planning a massive $17 million renovation to the high school, the first since the building was constructed in 1957.
The first bond issue to pay for the project, Cowburn said, is expected to take place later this year and add $8 million to the district's current debt.
Along with paying out $12.2 million in salaries and benefits and $1.6 million in contracted special education services, Columbia is wrestling with state laws requiring school districts to pay between $9,000 and $18,000 for each student wishing to attend a charter school, including charter schools over the Internet.
"Parents in our district can choose to send their child to a charter school up in Harrisburg, but the majority of them attend classes on-line, programs financed by local school districts," Cowburn said. "Right now, we have 36 students enrolled in the charter school program, which is costing us $450,000."
Vern Detz, a member of borough council, spoke out Thursday against the tax increase, saying some of the blame lies with pay raises for the school district administration.
He said, "With the administration's salaries we're paying out over a million dollars," he said, "and that's without benefits. I think we need to keep things in check," Detz said.
Cowburn said Monday the raises are paid "in accordance with contracts" that can only be renegotiated when they expire. "These things weren't done outside of the normal process," she said of the raises, which average 3.5 percent. "Under the law, we can't pay any more than what the contracts state."
According to the budget, in the 2009-10 school year Cowburn will earn $109,827 while Diane Frey, assistant superintendent, will earn $102,250. Virginia Babic, Columbia Junior/Senior High School principal, will earn $79,600.
Traditionally, Columbia approves the salary for its superintendent, Barry Clippinger, at a later meeting.
The 2009-10 budget can be viewed on the district's Web site, www.columbia.k12.pa.us, or by requesting a copy from the district business office at 684-2283.
