School taxes for Wallenpaupack, Wayne Highlands and Western Wayne have been set, with Wallenpaupack again having the least millage, as well as the most students.
Wallenpaupack
The Wallenpaupack Area School District tax rate, approved at the June 10 board meeting, was set at 10.39 mills for Wayne County residents, a gain of 4.19% over the prior school year, and 84.84 mills for Pike County, an increase of 5.32%.
Wallenpaupack overlaps both counties, where millage is widely different. Superintendent Keith Gunuskey explained that the millage varies because of a difference in the way property values are assessed in each county. In a case such as this, the State Tax Equalization Board uses a formula to convert the assessed value of each property to market value. The result allows a property owner having a property comparable to one in the other county to pay approximately the same amount in school taxes.
During the Wallenpaupack budget presentation to the board at the May meeting, Gunuskey showed graphs comparing the 2023-2024 tax rate of Wallenpaupack with those of the five other school districts that are at least partly within Wayne County, and a similar comparison in Pike County, where there are two other districts besides Wallenpaupack.
In both counties, the tax rate for Wallenpaupack was the lowest.
"There are many factors that tie into this circumstance, but the largest factor is that of assessed property values in each of our Districts," Gunuskey said in an email, responding to an inquiry for this report. "Wallenpaupack Area School District benefits from many properties that are assessed at a high level. Generally speaking, with higher property values, comes lower millage rates, with lower property values, comes higher millage rates."
Wallenpaupack Area School District encompasses most of Lake Wallenpaupack's 52-mile shoreline, lined with many private property owner associations.
The district's enrollment as of June 3 was 3,001.
Wayne Highlands
The Wayne Highlands School District board passed the budget at a special meeting on Friday, June 28. The budget includes a real estate tax rate set at 12.6243 mills.
This represents an increase of 4.3%, from 12.1039 mills for the 2023-2024 school year.
The 2024-2025 budget contains expenditures of $67,386,023 and revenues of $66,708,146. The budget is balanced through fund balance totaling $677,877.
A resolution was passed by the Wayne Highlands board in May setting an occupation tax for general revenue purposes at the rate of 300 mills on each dollar of occupation assessment. According to the published legal notice, the tax is necessary to finance school operations.
A per capita tax of $5 is also in the budget.
Real estate transfer taxes of 0.5% were also passed. The occupation tax, per capita tax and real estate transfer tax rates are the same as the prior school year.
The final enrollment for the 2023-2024 school year was 2,401.
Western Wayne
The Western Wayne School District board adopted the 2024-2025 budget and tax rates on June 5.
Real estate taxes were set at 12.2811 mills. Superintendent Matthew Barrett said that this represents a 2.49% increase over the 2023-2024 tax rate of 11.9753.
Real estate transfer taxes of 0.5% were set.
The balanced budget was approved at $62,394,439.
Western Wayne has the lowest enrollment of these three districts; as of the June 5 board meeting, it had 1,868 students.
The three districts held commencement exercises in June. Western Wayne had 124 graduates; Wayne Highlands, 145; and Wallenpaupack, 249.
Peter Becker has worked at the Tri-County Independent or its predecessor publications since 1994. Reach him at pbecker@tricountyindependent.com or 570-253-3055 ext. 1588.
This article originally appeared on Tri-County Independent: Wayne County school taxes rising; Wallenpaupack has lowest rate
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