North Allegheny to try new ways to raise money
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North Allegheny school directors hope some of their proposed initiatives will bring in money for next year and allow them to cut the property tax increase in the preliminary budget.
School board members approved the $1.26 million budget Jan. 25 by an 8-1 vote.
The tax rate would be 21.55 mills, an increase of 1.29 mills for property owners in Bradford Woods, Franklin Park, Marshall and McCandless.
Under the proposed increase, a resident whose home is assessed at $200,000 would pay $4,310 per year in school district taxes.
The district is seeking state permission to raise taxes beyond the rate of inflation to fund special education and the state-mandated increases in pension contributions.
Board member Ralph Pagone was the lone dissenter, saying he was frustrated because the board keeps talking about new ways to raise money, but the items are never put into effect. "I think we missed the boat," he said. "I think there's money out there."
Superintendent Raymond Gualtieri said the district will pilot an electronic newsletter that contains advertising in the spring. Also being introduced is a shopping application on the district website, which will allow residents to click on retailers such as Amazon, with the district receiving a percentage of the purchases.
Also, he said, the school district entered into an agreement with the Giant Eagle Market District in Pine. Saturday was "NA Shopping Day," and the district was to receive 10 percent of the store's sales.
"We're looking forward to that, and there will be others," he said. "We have a lot of initiatives that are in their infancy."
Also, the North Allegheny Foundation board is stepping up fundraising efforts in the hopes of funding elementary technology purchases.
Mr. Pagone said his big pushes were for naming rights for district facilities and advertising on the website. Joy Ed, director of communications, said she is working on a policy to allow advertising and also is setting up how to sell the ads.
"It doesn't appear that we can make enough money if somebody else sells [ads] for us," she said, noting that she expects to have ads on the website in the fall.
First Published February 2, 2012 5:43 am
