Northwest Area projects may hike taxes

First Posted:

RALPH NARDONE Times Leader Correspondent

SHICKSHINNY — Taxpayers in Northwest Area School District could face tax increases for the next couple of years, according to the board of directors on Monday night.
Due to a long list of maintenance and repairs, a commitment to building a new science lab and the ghost of an unsolved teacher’s contract, board members threw around options of 2- to 10-mill increases in the school tax and borrowing as much as $350,000.
Albert Melone, business manager, said the board has been able to keep the budget balanced over the last several years with a lot of “chewing gum” resulting in a lot of projects being put off too long.
Work to be done includes fixing the football and baseball fields, paving the parking lot, installing a heat pump and new windows, putting in sprinklers and repairing bleachers.