Steel Valley adopts preliminary budget that has no tax increase

Steel Valley school directors have approved a proposed budget plan for 2008-09 that does not raise taxes and includes a surplus of more than $10,000.

School board Vice President Pam Terrick was the only dissenter in a 7-1 vote Tuesday night. Kim Kubancsek was absent from the meeting.

Terrick said she opposes the budget because a teaching position that is cut in the proposed budget may be restored later this year, and no adjustments are being made to Shawn McCallister's position as athletic director.

"We have a full-time AD who can be in the classroom part-time," Terrick said. "He's certified in history and social studies. We're not a large enough school district for a full-time AD, and I don't think our reserve is high enough."

The budget lists district revenue at $27,969,003, and expenditures at $27,958,751.

Director Vince Natale said the district was facing a $1 million deficit when officials began preparing the budget.

School directors in January approved a $29,104,639 preliminary budget with a 1.87-mill tax increase.

Since then, Superintendent Dr. William Kinavey, district Business Manager Mark Cherpak and other officials have worked to cut costs.

In February, Steel Valley faced an estimated $938,000 deficit. In March, that figure was down to $529,000. Additional adjustments of more than $500,000 in the past month created the surplus, which could increase by the time directors approve a final budget in June.

Director Joe Ducar noted that donations from Steel Valley benefactor Bill Campbell, president and chief executive officer of Intuit Software of Mountain View, Calif., have helped ease the district's financial concerns.

"Band uniforms, football uniforms, basketball uniforms, this is stuff that everybody needs to realize does not come out of our budget," Ducar said. "Bill Campbell pays for this. We're talking hundreds of thousands of dollars that come into this community. We'd be raising taxes every single year, guaranteed, if it wasn't for Bill Campbell."

By MICHAEL DIVITTORIO,
Daily News Staff Writer
05/21/2008