Board members of the Coatesville Area School District voted against a waiver that would have relieved the Archdiocese of Philadelphia from its obligation to pay rollback taxes on the land where St. Peter's Church and the Pope John Paul II Regional Elementary School were built.

The rollback taxes amount to a penalty for the archdiocese developing a a portion of the 217-acre property that previously had been protected as open space under Pennsylvania's Clean and Green Act.

The total tax bill owed by the church is more than $200,000, and about $190,000 of that is is due to the school district.

It appears to be a relatively tiny sum compared to CASD's annual budget, which this year is about $130 million, but the school district's persistence that it be paid is a sign of some belt-tightening as officials begin planning the 2008-2009 finances.

From Sunday's article:

Ken Lupold, CASD’s director of business administration and a member of the finance committee, on Friday said the decision to reject the waiver was financial.

The district, which has a $130 million operating budget this year, has begun calculating next year’s expenditures and revenues. Lupold said officials are realizing “our revenues from local sources are down quite a bit this year,” partly because of stagnant real estate values.

“Consequently our earnings from interest are also down,” Lupold said. “So we were looking at this for a boost to our revenues.”