The draft agenda for this Thursday's Columbia Borough School Board Committee of the Whole meeting includes the following item for consideration:
"The final budget includes a proposed tax increase in the total amount of .8508 mills or 2.90%, which is within Columbia Borough School District's approved index of 3.7%, and use of $800,000 ($250,000 is in Budgetary Reserve) of Fund Balance. The real estate tax rate for 2017-18 will be 30.1908 mills."
With the increase, the annual tax liability for an assessment of $100,000 will be $3,019.08. (The increase of .8508 mills translates to $85.08 a year for a $100,000 assessment.) At the current 29.34 mills, Columbia already has the highest school tax of any district in the county. The proposed increase will further cement that position.
With the increase, the TOTAL millage for Columbia Borough (county millage + municipal millage + school millage) will be 41.9258. The total annual tax liability for an assessment of $100,000 will be $4,192.58.
Current millage rates for Lancaster County are shown below.