This is one part of the plan I was excited for.  There are some innovative ways that the district can actually make money.  Generating revenue is extremely important if the district is going to survive the next few years.  The problem with the district has been that it has used one-time revenue sources and borrowing to survive.  This wasn’t sustainable years ago, and now we’ve hit the breaking point.  Some of you who read regularly might remember I posted a few years ago that the district was doomed.  This is what I was talking about.

Another issue the plan points out is that negligence led to the district not getting numerous reimbursements from the state.  The plan basically says, “Hey, file for that money!”  This reinforces my number one takeaway from the plan: the district has dealt with years and years of utter incompetence.  I’d suggest that if there’s a portion of the plan worth reading, it’s page 121.  It says, nicely, that we can’t behave like this anymore.

Here’s what the plan says:

• Stop using one-time revenues to balance budgets.  This is easy to implement, in that we can simply not use this gimmick any longer.  And if the plan passes, we’d have no choice but to follow this provision.
• Raise taxes forever.  This, for lack of a better word, sucks.  We need money and the best way to get it is through tax increases.  The state doesn’t give us anywhere near enough, so that means Scrantonians have to suffer.  I don’t like it, but it’s what’s going to happen.  Five years of maximum-level tax increases.  It’s awful.  I suggested seeing if we could tax owner-occupied homes at different rates, but that appears impossible.  I have some ideas on this front that I’m going to discuss with the Recovery Officer.  Old Forge offers a rebate to seniors.  Maybe that’s something we can do?  The other important note here is that the plan indicates that the district should ask permission to raise taxes higher than the capped rate.  And then it REQUIRES we ask if we don’t have a balanced budget.  Ugh.
• Actually collect taxes owed.  So our collection rate is about 86.2%.  When we fall short of the max, that means taxes have to go up for those of us who bother to pay.  If we were able to increase our collection rate, we’d be in a lot better shape.  The method for increasing collections is unclear, and the plan states that the district should work with the City and the Single Tax Office.  I’d like to see what options we have.
• Increase PILOTs.  A MAJOR problem with the district is how much of our land is totally untaxable.  It’s something like 36% of the city.  That’s one of the major reasons the average resident bears the burden.  The district has tried to increase Payments in Lieu of Taxes for years, but since they aren’t obligated, they are minimal.  I’m guessing this won’t really generate much.  Don’t get me wrong, I’ll take what we can get.  But don’t get your hopes up, people.
  • One the plan addresses near the end of this section is the potential to challenge non-profit exemptions.  At the University of Scranton we have dorms, parking lots/garages, and restaurants that have nothing to do with their educational mission.  All of that should be taxed.
• Explore moving to a payroll tax.  The City is getting ready to get rid of the business and mercantile tax and replace it with a payroll tax.  They are required to do it on a timeline, and we are not.  So we will explore it.  If it makes sense, we will switch.  The biggest potential problem is that the dollar amount collected has to be the same, but there isn’t a provision if collections lag.  So if we definitely get, say $5 million from business and mercantile, and budget that for payroll, but only $4 million comes in, we are stuck.  So that’s a risk worth considering.  Since the City appears to be moving forward with it, we can see how they handle it and go from there.
• Increase Medicaid ACCESS revenue.  The district is able to be reimbursed for some of the services it provides special needs students.  Our reimbursement per student is currently not that great.  The plan estimates we can generate $1.5 million over 5 years if we streamline this.
• Eliminate the double discount for paying taxes early.  I pay early, and I like discounts.  But I get that this is an easy way to generate revenue.  Everybody MUST pay property taxes, so there’s no real reason to offer two discounts, other than encouragement.  If I don’t feel encouraged because there aren’t two discount periods, I still owe the money.  Evidently we are the only district in PA that does this.  There isn’t an estimate of how much money the district would generate by switching, but it’ll be an easy, low-effort way to bring in revenue.

And there you have it.  There are other options to generate revenue, like expanding our own cyber school to possibly include neighboring districts.  Also, we could in-house food services, which would also increase revenue.  I’m sure the Recovery Officer won’t turn away ideas for more money!