A wave of property tax hikes swept school districts across Southwestern Pennsylvania this month in response to rising costs and COVID-19 relief funds running out.

As school boards adopted new budgets this month, several announced tax increases, including six districts with a footprint in Butler County — Freeport, Karns City Area, Slippery Rock Area, Allegheny-Clarion Valley, Seneca Valley and Mars Area — and school districts such as New Kensington-Arnold in Westmoreland County and Upper St. Clair in Allegheny County, among others.

And for others, tax hikes previously were implemented, as in Moniteau and Butler Area, or they seem inevitable in the coming years, as in Knoch, where tax hikes have been proposed but not implemented for two consecutive years.

“We're very mindful of the fact that if we levy a tax increase it does place a burden on taxpayers,” said Eric Ritzert, Karns City superintendent.

The sentiment was echoed in nearby Lawrence County.

“I don't want to raise taxes, but I don't know what else to do,” said Gregg Paladina, superintendent for New Castle Area School District.

For many districts, costs are rising without a substantial increase in revenue. To fill that gap, districts are considering furloughs, program cuts and tax increases.

It’s a growing set of challenges: rising health care costs, cyber charter school tuition, rising everyday expenses and planning for the first fiscal year without the ability to use COVID-19 relief funds.

Indiana Area School District is dealing with all of the above, prompting the administration to recommend a tax hike. The school board subsequently approved a 3% tax increase.

“When you cut anything out of our budget, you're cutting people, which has an effect on the local economy, as well as the program you're putting together for the taxpayers’ children,” Indiana superintendent Robert Heinrich said.

Combine that with the rising cost for food and supplies and the budget has grown, on average, a little under $2 million each year.

“We started to get to a place where it was clear we were going to have to raise taxes,” Heinrich said. “The increase in costs started to exceed what we were bringing in tax revenue right around COVID.”

An influx of a few million in COVID-19 relief funding “staved off the potential problem,” Heinrich said — but now that money is gone.

Ashley Clouser, a parent of two children in the Indiana Area School District, said while class sizes seem manageable, the district needs more support staff. She said the pay isn’t competitive with some other jobs.

“My son has had a new aide every year since he started with one in 2020-21,” she said.

Clouser said as an immediate need, she also would like to see the district invest in providing air conditioning in all buildings. “When it is hot those kids are miserable and hot, and that leads to less education,” she said.

Nearby Karns City Area School District also is grappling with increasing costs. The board on June 16 approved a $26.69 million budget with a 3% increase in millage rate in Butler County, 3% in Clarion County and 2% in Armstrong County. These increases in all three counties that make up the district will bring in $150,000 for a special education life skills class for elementary students.

The bulk of the district’s fund balance is set aside for work on buildings, such as consolidating two elementary school buildings into one last school year.

Without using the fund balance, options to manage a growing budget are slim, Ritzert said.

Ritzert suggests the state change the system requiring public school districts to pay a per-student sum to cyber charter schools when those students opt to enroll in those institutions outside the district. Other superintendents echoed this sentiment.

Indiana Area School District, for example, is projected to pay $2 million on cyber charter tuition — more than what would be brought in by the tax increase.

School districts now pay tuition for each student who attends a cyber charter school outside the district, instead of the local public schools. That rate is different for each district, something school officials have criticized.

“If there would be reform in the cyber school cost structure that could save our school district enough that we wouldn't need to levy a tax,” Ritzert said.

State Auditor General Timothy DeFoor’s office released an audit in February that urged, among other steps, elected officials and the Department of Education to change the way cyber charter schools are funded.

Democrats and Republicans in Harrisburg have pushed for changes involving cyber charter schools, but there’s not yet consensus on how to do it.

For example, Armstrong School District is expecting to spend about $4.8 million this year on cyber charter tuition, said Sam Kirk, director of finance and operations. That sum pays for about 250 students.

The tuition figure has more than doubled from $1.5 million since 2019, he noted, adding that it is “probably our major struggle.”

The district’s preliminary budget for 2025-26 is about $113 million. To address mounting expenses, Kirk is proposing a 2% tax increase, which he estimates would raise roughly $680,000.

The board voted last week to reject a tax increase and instead cut staffing.

The teachers union vehemently opposed the move.

Even with the cuts, the board still faces a deficit of more than $1 million.

Kirk also flagged another pressure point: a nearly 15% increase in health care costs, marking the second consecutive year with double-digit hikes.

The district received about $19 million in COVID-19 relief funds, which pushed the budget crisis off for a few years, Kirk said.

Now, a $17.6 million fund balance can help with some gaps, but that is not a long-term solution, he said.

“Once you start using that savings account and it’s gone, what do you have to lean back on except raising taxes a ton or making drastic cuts?” he said.

Abigail Hakas is a reporter for Next Generation Newsroom, part of the Center for Media Innovation at Point Park University. Reach her at abigail.hakas@pointpark.edu.

Feixu Chen is an intern with Next Generation Newsroom. He is a graduate of Emerson College in Boston. Reach him at feixu.chen@pointpark.edu.

NGN is a regional news service that focuses on government and enterprise reporting in southwestern Pennsylvania. Find out more information on foundation and corporate funders here.