Norwin property owners will see a 4% real estate tax hike to fund the school district in the fiscal year beginning July 1.
But the school finance director says the spending plan relies on state legislators approving Gov. Josh Shapiro’s education budget that boosts Norwin’s funding by $2.39 million.
The board Monday night unanimously approved a $99 million budget that increases property taxes by 3.9 mills to 100.2 mills in Irwin, North Irwin and North Huntingdon, which consists of the majority of the district, and by 4.9%, or .69 mills, to 15.97 mills for the 18 properties the district serves in White Oak and South Versailles in eastern Allegheny County.
The school budget is “heavily reliant upon state funding,” Ryan Kirsch, director of finance and operations, told the board.
In addition to the proposed $2.39 million increase in funding, Norwin would get about $48,000 in basic education funding and about $97,600 in special education allocation under the governor’s budget, Kirsch said.
Although the state is suppose to pass a budget by June 30, just like school districts, Pennsylvania’s budget crisis last year stretched some 130 days past that deadline. Shapiro’s budget will have to pass a Republican-controlled Senate, where the GOP has a 27-23 majority. The Democrats have just a one-vote edge in the House.
The tax increase the board adopted for the next school year is less than the maximum 4.5% increase that was permitted under the state’s Act 1 index, said school board member Bill Bojalad, the board’s president. The district approved a resolution in January that it would not raise taxes above that index.
Superintendent Natalie McCracken said the district was able to save money by not filling two teaching positions — one in the elementary and one in the high school — that became open through retirement and resignation. There was a small decline in the elementary school enrollment, McCracken said. That drop in elementary school enrollment is indicative of the region’s changing demographics.
A social worker’s position will be funded by a combination of a grant and local revenue, so the district will be able to retain three social workers, McCracken said.
Norwin also will tap into its fund balance once again, taking $570,000 from that account to help balance the budget for the 2026-27 school year. By the end of the school year in June 2027, the district is projected to have a fund balance of about $3.7 million, Kirsch said.
The budget will be supported by $54.1 million in funding from local sources, $43.2 million from the state and just $1.1 million from the federal government.