RADNOR – Property owners in Radnor will be seeing an increase in their real estate taxes later this year after the school board approved a 2.26 percent property tax hike for the 2022-3023 district budget.
Under the final budget that was approved Tuesday night, district property owners will have a millage increase from 13.9224 to 14.2371 mills. One mill represents a $1,000 for a property assessed value.
For a home with an assessed value of $694,908, the increase represents an increase of $218 in their tax bill.
The tax increase is below Radnor’s Act 1 index of 3.4. Act 1 limits the percentage increase school districts can enact from one year to the next. If a district wants to increase taxes above the index level, it must hold a voter referendum.
According to Brian Pawling, business administrator/tax collector for Radnor, this year’s homestead/farmstead rebate will be higher. The rebate, which comes from the state’s gambling revenues, will give the nearly 5,000 Radnor homeowners that are a part of the program a $370.57 reduction in property taxes.
“We’re presenting a nearly balanced budget that meets the educational requirements of our district but is also trying to be as responsible to our taxpayers as possible,” Pawling said. “We feel we’ve done that through this budget process and vetting this budget over the past eight months to what we are presenting this evening.”
The upcoming budget will have a $75,000 deficit, funded through the district fund balance.Radnor expects to spend a total of $110.4 million. The largest spending is for instruction, which makes up over 50 percent of the budget.
Support services, such as guidance offices, the library, the health department, and others, take up about 32 percent of the budget. Another 14 percent goes into items such as debt payments and fund transfers. About one percent of the budget pays for student services such as athletics and other student services.
Radnor’s taxes are heavily dependent on local tax sources, with 82 percent of the money coming into the district locally. Most of the local money comes from real estate taxes, but some come from other sources such as interest revenue and real estate transfer taxes paid when a property is sold.
About 16 percent of the revenue the district receives comes from state sources.At about two percent of the district’s money, the smallest percentage is from the federal government. Most years, Pawling said, the figures from the federal government are lower, but due to funding from the COVID relief bills, they are higher right now.
Board member Lydia Solomon said she was voting against the budget and raised concerns that the increase was too high. She wanted it limited to 2 percent.”I’m not going to vote for this budget only because I’m really concerned about our taxpayers and people’s ability to afford everything when they’re being slammed from all sides with expenditures, she said.
School officials say the difference between 2 percent and 2.26 percent is negligible.
In doing quick math in his head, Pawling said the difference between a 2 percent increase and a 2.26 percent increase for a Radnor property with that averaged assessed value of $694,908 would be about a $20 difference.
The board approved the budget on a 7 to 1 vote.