Dallas warns of cost increases if high school is delayed

First Posted:

Mark Guydish

DALLAS TWP. – Arguing that further delays in acquiring local permits could drive up the cost of a $43 million high school, the Dallas School Board urged residents to attend the Dallas Township Planning Commission meeting Tuesday at 7 p.m.

Board Member Maureen Matiska noted that permits required from the state Department of Transportation and other outside bodies hinge on approval of plans by the planning commission. If the commission rejects plans – already revised at least once – for handling traffic, Matiska said it could delay the whole process by months, increasing costs paid to engineers and architects to revise the plans and risking a rise in construction costs.

Board Member Richard Coslett agreed. Noting that parents of track athletes want a new track surface included in the construction he said the cost increases from delays “could pay for a new track,” and urged parents to attend the planning commission meeting.

In other business, the board voted to keep any tax increase next school year below a state-set index of 4.8 percent, which Business Manager Grant Palfey said translates into about $69 for the average home owner. The resolution means the district does not have to present a preliminary budget until May. Under the state law known as Act 1, if a district plans to exceed the index, it must prepare a preliminary budget in February so that voters can approve the tax hike, or the district must ask the state for an exception to the rule.

Palfey noted that county-wide property reassessment has changed the total property values in the district from about $60 million to nearly $1.6 billion. He said millage will be revised so that the district takes in the same amount under the new assessments, and that early calculations show the current rate of 262 mills would drop to about 10 mills. A mill is a $1 tax on every $1,000 of assessed value. Since the values have shot up under reassessment, the millage must drop proportionately.

Board Member Dick Orlowski said that the board and the support staff union had reached a tentative agreement on a new contract to run through July, 2011. He said he expects the details to be ironed out in time for the board to vote on the agreement at the February meeting.

And Solicitor Ben Jones III said the board had essentially won a grievance filed by teacher’s union on behalf of retired teachers. Retiree health insurance coverage was changed when the district left the Northeast Pennsylvania School District Health Trust – a consortium insuring most local districts – last July, and retirees argued the change was illegal. Arbitrator Scott Buchheit dismissed the case.