Business Office

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Contents

• Budget
• Taxes
• Financial Reports
• Facilities
• Food Service
• Transportation
• Links
• Contact us

Budget

The School Board adopts a budget every year in May or June to take effect July 1. If you have the Adobe Acrobat Reader, you can view the following budgets: 

2011-2012 (Proposed FinalBudget- Posted June 20, 2011)   

2011-2012 (Preliminary Budget- Posted January 24, 2011)

    2010-2011 (Board approved June 21, 2010 - Posted June 22, 2010)

    2009-2010

    2008-2009

Area Tax Millage Rate Analysis 2008-2009

    2007-2008

    2006-2007 

    2005-2006

    2004-2005

    2003-2004

    2002-2003

    2001-2002

    2000-2001

    1999-2000

How does Southern Columbia compare to its peers across the county and across the state?  Check the Standard & Poors "Schoolmatters" web site and you'll see that we excel in nearly every category!

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Taxes

In November 2001, the residents of the Southern Columbia Area School District approved implementing the Act 50 Tax Reform structure for local taxes.  Implementation began with the 2002-03 fiscal year and involved the repeal of the Occupational Assessment, Per Capita, and Occupational Privilege taxes.  These taxes were replaced with an increased earned income tax: the school tax rate of 0.5% was increased to 1.5%.  Residents of the district should notify their employers that a total of 2% (1.5% for the school, 0.5% for the township or boro) should be withheld from their gross wages.  Residents whose employers do not withhold the higher amount will need to pay the additional amount with their Berkheimer Tax Return due by April 15th of each year. 

In May 2005, the School Board adopted the provisions of Act 72 which will take the place of the Act 50 tax system.  The local EIT will increase 0.1% (to a total of 2.1%) and residents who live in approved Homestead or Farmstead properties will receive a reduction in their school real estate taxes.  The estimates provided by the Commonwealth indicate a reduction of $111 to $178.  However, only 20% of the eligible school districts in the state opted in to Act 72, leaving the question of what to do with the extra property reduction funds unanswered for now. 

In any case, neither the increased EIT nor the property tax reduction will take place until there are sufficient funds from slot machine gambling available to distribute which will be no earlier than July 2006 and, more likely, will be July 2007.. 

Still have questions?  Join the club.  Penn State put together a great summary of Act 72 at http://cax.aers.psu.edu/taxreform

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Financial Reports

The School Board contracts with an independent auditing firm each year to review the accuracy of the financial records of the School District. If you have the Adobe Acrobat Reader, you can view the most recent audit reports by clicking on the year below.

2007-08

2006-07

2005-06

2004-05    Management Discussion & Analysis (GASB 34)

2003-04    Management Discussion & Analysis (GASB 34)

2002-03    Management Discussion & Analysis (GASB 34)

2001-02

2000-01

1999-00

1998-99

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Facilities

The Facilities Team maintains the G.C. Hartman Elementary Center, the Southern Columbia Middle/High School, Tiger Stadium, the Transportation Garage, Sewage Treatment Plant and numerous practice and play fields on 110 acres in Franklin Township, Columbia County.

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Food Service

Each year the Food Service Team provides over 200,000 breakfast and lunch meals to students in the Elementary Center and Middle/High School.  We participate in the National School Lunch Program and strive to provide quality food at reasonable prices.  Beginning in March 2001, elementary parents were able to prepay for their child's meals through an electronic point-of-sale system providing faster checkout at lunchtime and ensuring complete confidentiality for those students on free and reduced lunch programs.  The same system for the secondary building came on line in March 2003. 

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Transportation

parochial schools in surrounding districts. The fleet of 34 school buses, 4 mini-buses and 9 vans logs over 400,000 miles each school year.

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Links to related sites

• Pa Association of School Business Officials (PASBO)
• Pa Department of Education

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Contact Information

By mail: 800 Southern Drive, Catawissa, PA 17820

By Telephone: 570-356-2331 or 570-672-2983

By FAX: 570-356-2892

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