The Truth about Budgets....

Our Republican opponents are claiming that if you don't elect them, your taxes will increase by 29% over the next eight years. They claim they alone will be able to prevent tax increases all while continuing to meet the needs of our students, improving education standards and ensuring we remain a top school district. Of course, they never once have put forth a plan on how to do it.

The Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania recently ruled the state's current method of funding- or in our case not- is unconstitutional and must be revised. The legislative and executive branches have been ordered to revise how our schools are funded so that all students have the same resources and opportunities to learn.

The current funding mechanism relies too heavily on local property taxes, which means lower income communities and communities without a large industrial or commercial footprint, are not fully funded. TE, UCF, Great Valley, West Chester, OJR and Phoenixville School Districts are all better funded than DASD and due to commercial properties many of them pay a lower tax rate than DASD.

Once the state revises their funding mechanism, our hope is that the burden of funding our schools will be more evenly distributed. There may still be tax increases, but know that we do everything we can to minimize those increases while ensuring our students' needs are met, our buildings are adequately maintained and that we're planning for the future. It is why the Downingtown area continues to be one of the most desirable areas to live within Chester County.

For more information on how districts in Pennsylvania are funded, please review the Inquirer article here: https://www.inquirer.com/education/inq2/how-pennsylvania-school-district-funding-formula-works-20230906.html