fox chapel area school district
In addition, the district is preparing for future capital improvements and maintains a reserve to help fund these
capital projects. The district issued bonds during 2013 and will have fully utilized those funds by the end of the
2016-2017 school year for the renovations at the high school, as well as to pay for a portion of the renovations
at the middle school. The district issued bonds in May 2017 for capital improvement projects in process and in
the planning stages at Dorseyville Middle School and the O’Hara, Fairview, and Kerr elementary buildings. The
Board and administration are anticipating savings due to the low market interest rates on this new bond issue.
By implementing sound financial strategies to manage expenditures and anticipate revenue shortfalls, the
district’s future financial health continues to be stronger than many in the commonwealth. However, the district
continues to plan for future shortfalls through long-range budget forecasts.
Gaming Funds Distribution*
On May 2, 2017, the Pennsylvania Department of Education provided the Fox Chapel Area School District
with the amount of the district’s share of gaming funds available for distribution. The proposed final budget
includes a distribution of $1,480,832. The method of distributing these funds, as prescribed by Act 1, the
Taxpayer Relief Act, will be via the implementation of the homestead exclusion. Under this provision, any
property in the school district that was approved by Allegheny County as a homestead will have the lesser of its
taxable value, or an estimated $9,787 of its taxable value, excluded for the purpose of calculating current school
district real estate taxes for the 2017 tax year. The owners of the 7,837 properties in the district that qualified
for the homestead exclusion will receive the equivalent of a $188.95 reduction in their property taxes. Property
owners who currently do not have an approved homestead exclusion will have the opportunity to apply again
when the district sends out letters to those homeowners in December 2017.
*Allegheny County has certified that there are 7,837 properties in the Fox Chapel Area School District
that qualify for the homestead exclusion. If that number is adjusted by the county to include more or less
properties, it could affect the amount of the final reduction.
2017-2018 PROPOSED FINAL BUDGET REVENUES & EXPENDITURES
Revenues/Unassigned Fund Balance
$4,829,385
$1,389,000
$764,571
6000 - Local: 74.02% - $74,787,094
$19,260,800
7000 - State: 19.06% - $19,260,800
8000 - Federal: 0.76% - $764,571
$74,787,094
9000 - Other Financing: 1.37% - $1,389,000
Unassigned Fund Balance: 4.78% - $4,829,385
Expenditures/Budgetary Reserve
1000 - Instruction, 2100 - Pupil Services, 2200 - Instructional Support Services,
2400 - Pupil Health: 68.1% - $70,411,647
$6,164,385
$4,617,506
$120,657
$2,763,739
$1,811,574
$3,948,693
– $7,244,748
2300 - Administration: 6.2% - $6,381,795
2600 - Operations & Maintenance: 7.0% - $7,244,748
2700 - Student Transportation: 3.8% - $3,948,693
2000 - Remaining Support Services: 1.8% - $1,811,574
3000 - Noninstructional Services: 2.7% - $2,763,739
4000 - Facilities: 0.1% - $120,657
5000 - Other Financing: 4.5% - $4,617,506 5900 - Budgetary Reserve: 6.0% - $6,164,385
$70,411,647
– $6,381,795
Fox Chapel Area | Summer 2017 | icmags.com 11