Mt. Lebanon residents can expect to see a 10.5 percent increase in the school tax rate after the school board passed a $79.36 million budget Monday night.

The 2010-11 budget's tax rate of 26.63 mills is an increase of 2.52 mills over the current year's spending. Of the 2.52 mills, 2.16 mills are to cover the $69 million bond issue for the planned $113.3 million high school renovation, and 0.37 mills are to cover increased pension fund responsibilities. The base budget went down 0.01 mills.

The school board passed the budget by a 6-2 vote. Board members James Fraasch and Faith Stipanovich voted against the spending plan. Board President Ed Kubit was not at the meeting, but said in a letter read aloud by board Vice President Susan Rose that he supported the budget.

Prior to the vote, a few residents voiced support of the budget, and specifically, of the high school renovation. But a few also said that the increase in property taxes would cause them significant financial hardship.

Board member Josephine Posti, who voted for the budget, called the tax rate increase "significant and difficult." She said all the board members recognized the difficulty the tax increases will cause for people who live in Mt. Lebanon.

"None of us take that lightly," she said.

Under the new 2010-11 budget, the owner of a house assessed at $200,000 will pay $5,326 in school taxes.

Along with passing the budget, the board also continued discussing long-term budget planning for the district, to offset possible future tax increases due to increased pension responsibilities, the second bond issuance for the high school renovation and the base budget.

The board voted unanimously to direct Superintendent Timothy Steinhauer to develop a multi-year plan to review and analyze the district's programs and operations in order to maintain or reduce expenditures.

School board member James Fraasch said, however, that the board had not done enough to keep costs down this year.

"We are asking our taxpayers to tighten their belts," he said. "Meanwhile, we are not fastening ours."

Looking for more from the Post-Gazette? Join PG+, our members-only web site. You'll get exclusive sports content, opinion, financial information, discounts from retailers and restaurants, and more. Our introduction to PG+ gives you all the details.