Schools

2.77% Tax Hike Proposed by Bensalem School District

After protests last week, the district comes up with new budget cuts.

Last week hundreds of parents and teachers protested Bensalem School District’s proposal to cut more than 70 teachers and eliminate all extracurricular activities to solve its potential $12 million deficit problem.

But no one, not even the administrators who proposed those drastic cuts, thought it was a good idea. For that reason, the district made new proposals Wednesday, including raising property taxes 2.77 percent—about $84 per homeowner—and $2.78 million in cuts, according to Phillyburbs.com.

The district origianlly proposed a 3.4 percent tax increase.

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Among some proposed cuts include the sixth grade gifted program, after-school busing, summer school and eliminating some support position such as nurses and librarians, the report stated.

Jack Myers, the district's director of business operations, previously explained that a main reason for the lower pending tax increase is a recent reassessment of the Parx Casino property, which would bring the district $4 million a year.

Find out what's happening in Bensalemwith free, real-time updates from Patch.


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