$107M Owen J. Roberts Budget Hikes Taxes 2.4%

Photos by Evan Brandt

A LINE OF CHAMPIONS: Members of the Owen J. Roberts High School Track and Field Team, this year's PAC-10 Champions, were recognized by the school board at Monday night's meeting.

The Owen J. Roberts School Board unanimously approved a $107 million budget for the 2018-2019 school year Monday night that will raise property taxes by 2.4 percent.

The exact amount budgeted for spending is $106,878,490 and includes a $10 million capital budget and $7.1 million of debt.

TOPS IN BUSINESS: Some of the 26 Owen J. Roberts 

students who qualified/competed in the DECA

International Career Development Conference who were

recognized by the school board Monday night.

Chief Financial Officer Jaclin Krumrine said the tax hike is "at the index," or the maximum allowed by the state's inflation-based tax cap.

She also said the district did make use of any of the "exceptions" which state law allows districts to exceed their index, for things like construction costs of special education.

The board also unanimously adopted the millage rate of 31.2366 mills.

Those who pay their full tax bill by Aug. 31, are entitled to a 2 percent discount on the amount. Those who don't pay by Oct. 31, face a 10 percent penalty.

No one from the public spoke either for or against the budget.

However, there was one speaker of note -- Lucas Gray.

Gray is the student government executive council president. This was his last meeting as he is graduating and the school board presented him with a small gift.

He presented them with a appeal to stop behaving badly.

While thanking them for the opportunity, he confessed that he left almost every meeting feeling "frustrated and embarrassed."

Not because of anything he had done, but because of the board's behavior toward each other.

Lucas said he was disappointed "by the undertone of mistrust, the mudslinging" and the "petty jibes."

This behavior, he said, embarrasses a district "that deserves better."

Click this link to read more about the school's board's dysfunction.

And now, the Tweets. Amid them, you will find speeches by the high school valedictorian and two (? must have been a tie) salutatorians.

They're worth a look, successful scholars talking about the teachers who inspired them.

OJR Adopts $107M Budget, 2.4% Tax Hike