Taxes on school districts in Pennsylvania are expected to rise by nearly 5%

(Center Square) – School district property taxes are a major source of revenue for schools and in some places place a heavy burden on local residents.

They are expected to grow even further in the near future.

In recent years they have grown by 2.4% to 3.3%, but are expected to grow by 4.8% and 4% in 2025 and 2026, according to an analysis by the Independent Fiscal Office.

In the 2022-23 fiscal year, school district property taxes totaled $16.6 billion and are expected to increase 3.2% to nearly $17.2 billion in 2023-24.

The increase in 2022-2023 was the largest increase since 2018-2019, the IFO said. Much of that growth came from a citywide real estate revaluation in Philadelphia, which increased the assessed value of single-family homes by 31%.

Property taxes in school districts statewide will reach $18 billion in 2024-25 and $18.7 billion in 2025-26, the IFO projected.

Previous IFO estimates expected the tax burden to increase, but the latest projections show a downward revision. In 2022, the agency expected $17.5 billion to be raised between 2023 and 2024, but the latest estimate is $17.2 billion.

But while property tax collections have increased, their overall share of school funding has fallen in recent years. Instead, temporary federal COVID-19 relief ($3.5 billion over the past five years) grew, as did state resources.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINATOR

Local residents can bear significant burdens thanks to school property taxes. In some cases, homeowners pay four times as much in school taxes as they do for all other local and state taxes.

Schools also increase their unassigned money in their general fund balances. Unallocated resources grew by 61% between 2018-19 and 2022-23, from $1.9 billion to $3.1 billion.