SVSD Taxes Went Up 44 Percent in a Decade: Data

The Saucon Valley School Board of Directors hasn't approved a tax increase in a number of years, but in spite of that accomplishment many residents are concerned about real estate taxes.

In fact, the tax rate in Saucon Valley is considerably higher than it was in the early 2000s, according to the online school tax information database openPAgov.org, which compares statistics from Pennsylvania's 500 school districts (501 in 2001).

According to those statistics, between the 2000-2001 school year and 2010-2011, real estate taxes in Saucon Valley School District increased 44 percent if adjusted for inflation.

The only Northampton County school districts that had a higher rate of increase during that period were Wilson Area School District, where real estate taxes increased 65 percent when adjusted for inflation, and Northampton Area School District, where they increased 47 percent.

Although taxes in some Pennsylvania school districts dropped during the first decade of the 21st century, in all eight Northampton County districts they increased by at least 26 percent (when adjusted for inflation), in spite of the fact that enrollment remained unchanged or fell in several of the same districts.

Between 2000-2001 and 2010-2011 enrollment in Saucon Valley School District increased by 7 percent, from 2,280 to 2,451, according to the openPAgov.org database.

The increase in total taxes collected per student during that period was $3,360 (when adjusted for inflation), from $9,794 to $13,154, the database indicated.

That figure represents the highest tax paid per student in the county, with Nazareth Area School District in second place at $10,078 per student in 2010-2011 (inflation-adjusted).

In Lehigh County, Southern Lehigh School District real estate taxes increased 60 percent during that decade when adjusted for inflation, according to the data. Solehi enrollment also increased by 16 percent during the same period.

According to its About page, "openPAgov.org is a project of the Commonwealth Foundation, an independent, non-profit research and educational institute" with "all data...taken from Pennsylvania state government or federal government sources."

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Eleven at-large candidates for school board in Saucon Valley have submitted petitions to appear on the May 21 primary election ballot in the district.