No tax hike in new BVA budget

By CHRISTINE HAINES

chaines@yourmvi.com

The Belle Vernon Area School District is holding the line on taxes for the 2021-22 school year, the second year in a row without an increase.

The board voted 6-3 in favor of a $39,326,645 balanced budget, with directors Kathleen Forte, Stacey Livengood and Rob Harhai voting against it.

“As a general rule, I believe in small increases, little baby bites, so we don’t feel it down the road,” Livengood said.

The budget is about $1.25 million more than the current budget, according to business manager Crystal Clark. The spending increases include $700,000 more for cyber school tuition, $150,000 for special education tuition and $200,00 more for vocational education tuition due to increased enrollments.

Those expenses were offset by $882,000 of federal Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Act funding.

“We need to control our recurring costs because the ESSER funds are going to dry up,” Director Dan Kovatch said.

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