On another note, be aware that the last meeting resulted in a vote to remove the occupational tax – considered a “nuisance tax” by the school board. What the board didn’t highlight was that now the property owners of Bethel Park will need to have their taxes raised to account for the difference. I guess that it is easier for the school board to rack up taxes for homeowners than to track down renters. Oh, by the way, they were able to do so for years before this without difficulty. What this amounts to is a penalty on us who care enough about our town to invest long term on living here.

Is Your Property Tax Too High?
Across America, home values have plunged, but property taxes—the tax homeowners pay based on their homes’ assessed value—have not.

“Nationwide, we have properties that may be overassessed by as much as 60%,” says Pete Sepp of the National Taxpayers Union, a watchdog group in Washington, D.C. Since those figures are based on studies conducted before the housing bubble burst, it’s likely that even more homeowners are paying too much property tax today. “Many localities are still charging taxes based on the housing-boom values of a few years ago,” Sepp explains.

While you can cut back on spending to lower your sales-tax burden or pay less income tax if your salary is cut or you lose your job, property taxes are not designed to respond immediately to economic pressures. In fact, according to U.S. Census Bureau figures, property taxes are one of the few areas of tax revenue bringing in more money than last year. Although most municipalities calculate the value of homes every three to five years, there are no national standards for how often reassessments should take place.

The good news is that, unlike sales and income taxes, property taxes can be appealed—and many homeowners are doing just that. Some 50,000 appeals were filed this spring in Atlanta alone—10 times more than in 2008. Another study found that almost 750,000 New Jersey homes are worth less than local assessors say. If the homes were correctly valued, their owners could save an average of $2000 a year in taxes—but local municipalities would lose millions in funding.

In the past, about 40% of all appeals nationwide have been successful. But that may not be the case this time. Local governments often depend on property taxes as their primary source of income, and most schools are funded via property taxes. With budgets already stretched thin, property taxes represent a source of revenue that local governments may not be willing to give up.

— Lyric Wallwork Winik

Mt. Lebanon’s High School building is as old as Bethel Park’s –if not older! And Mt. Lebanon was awarded a SILVER Medal ranking by US News and World Report for 2009 Best US High Schools.

Bethel Park did not even receive a Bronze – or an Honorable Mention! Yet we spend as much per HS student as Mt. Lebanon. The only natural conclusion from this is that if Mt Lebanon can achieve this with such an old and dilapidated school – it is NOT the building! It is superior teaching and community/parental involvement not superior facilities that really make the difference.

Bethel Park needs to improve its teaching processes before spending so much money on such an expensive, poorly conceived building.

Having attended several school board meetings, never once was one school board member able to show how a new building would improve scores and student performance. Even the literature on their website (primarily all from one self-serving architectural firm) demonstrates that it is processes together with community and parental involvement that achieve great results.

The School board has been less than forthcoming with financial answers and details. Much more information should be available for the residents to review along with justification for how a new building will improve the education of our students.

We need a referendum!

The $100 Million Dollar construction proposal, if I do my math correctly, comes out to costing approximately $8300/Household, there being roughly, 12,000 households in BP. Someone mentioned the finance costs, put it up to an eventual, actual total of $200 Million. The cost then will wind up being $16,600 per household, with the median Household income in the District at about $53,000, that is an incredible about of money, regardless if it is spread out over the coming decades.

I currently own a home that was built 80 years ago, it is in great condition and I intend on keeping it for another 80 years if possible. While I recognize that BPHS may not last quite that long, it certainly has another 20 years before you even need to think about building new facilities… maybe another 80 if proper maintenance is done.

To reiterate: when will schools grasp that their quality is not represented by the glamor of their buildings, but by the quality of their student’s education.

This money could be spent on:

- Creating a permanent endowment to send 100’s of kids every year on Study Abroad programs.
- Creating the BEST Specialty Academic Program in the state: i.e. Arts or Science/Technology

Both of these things would directly serve students and would make BPHS a destination school for a lot of families.

Parents will choose to move their families to the district, not if the buildings are new, but if the academic programs go the extra mile to serve the students.

Peace,

Tim Cook