High School Project Funding

Quaker Valley intends to build the highschool in a budget range of $95–105 million. We will operate under the budget ceilings set forth by three statutory guard rails:

Essentially, we cannot over tax,over build, or over borrow. Our five-year planning process provides a strategic, long-term look and transparency about anticipated future tax increases.We are and will continue to be in solid financial standing. We continue to receive clean financial audits and maintain a strong Aa2 Moody’s credit rating from independent reviewers.

 

The Finance Department and Committee will continue to provide detailed high school funding plans to reflect the current design phase cost projections. As those presentations and files are available, they will be added to this page.

The most recent presentation, on September 12, 2023, was specifically aligned to the upcoming ACT 34 hearing requirements which establishes certain maximum project costs as defined by the Act and as currently estimated by the district’s design team and program manager.  The presentation included future tax rate projections that include all future districtwide operational needs AND the additional debt service and indirect costs associated with the new high school.  Although the specific new high school project tax impact for the Act 34 process is 1.43 mills as presented, please note that the district did borrow approximately $10 million in 2017 for the property purchase and some of the project start-up costs.  The additional millage impact of that $10 million at that time was .195 mills so a complete total projected millage impact for the project would be estimated at 1.625 mills.  However, the district has been very forthcoming by sharing projections of the future total tax rate including this project impact AND all other annual operational needs to give taxpayers an all-encompassing look at the direction of the total tax rate.  As noted in several presentations and within the future tax rate projection table below, the annual tax rate increases are estimated to be well under the allowable inflationary rates and the total tax rate at the end of the new high school project will still be in the lower tier of all Allegheny County school districts.