South Eastern Tax Reform Coalition

The South Eastern Tax Reform Coalition is a non-profit organization, founded by a group of concerned citizens in 2005.

Our Mission

Our Mission is to ensure fiscal responsibility and strong accountability by the South Eastern District School Board, by monitoring the budget and expenditures of the South Eastern School District and to take steps to ensure school-spending is directed to the education of our children, not squandered frivolously.

Our Vision

Our Vision is the establishment of a genuine partnership between the South Eastern School District and the community, whereby students achieve their full potential, school taxes are equitable to both the school and the community, and there is no longer a need for the South Eastern Tax Reform Coalition.

Our Goals:

1. Build a better working relationship with the South Eastern District School Board.
2. Continue to monitor spending and make recommendations to the Board on how to reduce expenses.
3. Impress upon the Board the need for fiscal responsibility today and in the future, by continuing to provide evidence of the negative impact the school property taxes are having on the District’s taxpayers.
4. Advocate the establishment of Advisory Boards, comprised of parents, Coalition members and other interested community members to work together on academic curricula, the budget, sports, etc., to help the District achieve its mission to “create a partnership of school, home and community in order to prepare individuals to reach their fullest potential and greatest self worth, fostering life long learners and successful, responsible contributing citizens.”

We Need Responsible Spending & Responsible Taxation by the South Eastern School Board This area of rolling farmland, woods and creeks is threatened. The very fabric of the Pennsylvania way of life is threatened. No longer can our citizens retire, live on their savings and then pass the family home to their children. Some residents may be forced from their homes. In the South Eastern School District, 720 homeowners’ accounts were turned over to the York County Tax Claim Bureau for failure to pay property taxes in 2007. (See Tax Collection for a breakdown.)  The excessive school property taxes aren’t just affecting senior citizens; middle-class families cannot continue to pay outrageous taxes, either. The South Eastern School Board’s spending is unrestrained. CHANGE IS NECESSARY. We, the taxpayers of the South Eastern School District, must work with the School Board to make that change. In 2005, the community was outraged by the 27.7% tax increase, but their outcries, concerns and opinions went unheeded by the School Board.  In 2006, the budget increased 8.96%.  In 2007, another 5.51% increase.  And it doesn’t stop - the budget for 2008-09 increased another 5.6%. The South Eastern Tax Reform Coalition continues to hope the School Board will be open to a true discussion of the budget and our concerns. The 2006/07 budget included a tax relief measure, not to exceed $86,000, for senior citizens on limited incomes.  We opposed this measure, but the tax rebate is now an annual budgeted expense, and as we all know, expenses continue to grow, not decrease.   We support tax relief, not just for senior citizens, but for all taxpayers.  However, we do not support building rebates into the District’s annual school budget, because these rebates to certain taxpayers must be compensated for by all other taxpayers in the district. We will continue to monitor frivolous spending. The South Eastern Tax Reform Coalition wants the best education for our students, and to see our hard-earned dollars spent wisely….not frivolously. The bottom line is, our School Board needs to be more creative and fiscally responsible.

GET INVOVLED! Attend the South Eastern School Board meetings which are held on the first and third Thursday of every month at the Administration Building Community Center. Join the South Eastern Tax Reform Coalition. info@setrc.net Since the mission of our school district is to "create a partnership of school, home and community in order to prepare individuals to reach their fullest potential and greatest self worth, fostering life long learners and successful, responsible contributing citizens," let’s work with the School Board to create a true partnership.