Lower Merion School District proposes 4.39% tax hike

The Lower Merion School District, embroiled in lawsuits over laptop cameras and redistricting, faces the possibility of a substantial tax increase for next school year.

The current budget contained the largest tax-rate percentage increase in the region. The preliminary $201.5 million proposal for next year calls for a 4.39 percent tax hike. If that passes in June, the tax on a house assessed at the district median of $258,440 would rise $243. The total bill would be $5,774.

Among the biggest factors driving the proposed tax rate are salary increases, a substantial hike in benefit costs, and a drop in tax revenue, the district said in presenting the plan.

Last year's 6.6 percent tax hike was the highest percentage increase among the 64 school districts in Philadelphia's Pennsylvania suburbs. During the last five years, the percentage increase in district taxes has been among the highest in the region, as well.

Lower Merion was tops in the region in per-student spending in 2008-09, at $21,663; the Philadelphia School District ranked 60th, at $11,426.

Even with the recent increases and high per-pupil spending, the district has one of the lowest school-tax rates in Montgomery County. Because of substantial tax income from commercial properties, it ranked fifth from the bottom in school-tax millage among the county's 22 districts.

Much of the tax increase in recent years was due to construction of two high schools at a combined cost of more than $200 million. Harriton High opened in the fall; Lower Merion is scheduled to open this fall.

Another expense during the last two years was $2.6 million for 2,620 laptops for students. The computers have drawn attention in the last week after allegations that they were used to spy on students.

The program started in the 2008-09 school year, and all high school students had laptops in the fall. The preliminary budget, which the board passed Feb. 16, contains no more money for the program, district spokesman Douglas Young said.

Some residents say the laptop program never should have been undertaken, in light of the cost of the two new schools.

"After five years of exorbitant real estate tax increases, the taxpayers deserved a break; instead they received an outrageous bill for 2,260 notebook computers," Rosemont resident Stephen J. Gleason, a district critic who helped organize a group that has fought to keep spending down, wrote in a letter. "While almost every other institution and government entity struggles to contain costs, [the district] continues to raise taxes to pay for its costly spending addiction."

In an interview, Gleason said he favored buying school computers only for poorer students. "Free laptops for everybody is just piling on, after the expense of the high schools," he said.

The district has said the program provides education equity for students who can't afford the technology and uses the laptops' high-tech capabilities to enhance everyone's education.

Legal costs to defend the district from the lawsuit over alleged spying on laptop Web cams filed by 15-year-old Blake Robbins and his family and another lawsuit challenging Lower Merion's latest redistricting plan will also cost a substantial amount.

Billings to the district by the law firm Morgan, Lewis & Bockius in December and January for the redistricting case exceeded $133,700, according to the Main Line Times, which got the information from the district. The firm is charging $500 an hour for partner-level attorneys' work and $350 an hour for work by associate lawyers, the paper said.