Both the Moon Area and Sto-Rox school districts adopted their 2026-27 budgets last week, and both spending plans included property tax increases. They join three other districts in the West Hills that adopted their budgets this month — Carlynton, Cornell and Montour — of which all but Montour voted to hike taxes for the coming year.
Moon Area’s Board of Education approved a 3% local tax increase at its meeting on June 23, raising the millage rate from 25.2831 to 26.0415 for Moon and Crescent township residents. The board projects this increase will bring in an additional $1.95 million in revenue for its $105 million budget.
Sto-Rox adopted a 1.58% tax hike for residents in McKees Rocks Borough and Stowe Township, with its school board voting to increase the millage rate from 31.7837 to 32.2837 at its June 24 meeting. The increase should generate more than $352,000 to fund the district’s $42 million budget.
For a home in the Moon Area district assessed at $161,600, taxes will increase by $123, for a total bill of $4,208. In Sto-Rox, a home valued as $100,000 will pay $50 more in school property taxes next year.
Earlier this month, Carlynton voted to increase taxes by 4.4% and Cornell approved a 4.2% increase. Montour kept its millage stable at 17.9638, as it has for the past decade.
Moon Area has increased taxes four times in the last five years, and Sto-Rox has passed tax hikes every year since 2020-21. Sto-Rox has the highest millage of any West Hills school district by several points, with the value reflecting how much homeowners owe to the district for each $1,000 of assessed home value.
While both Carlynton and Cornell increased taxes by their respective Act 1 Indexes — the state-determined maximum districts can increase taxes in a given year — Moon Area and Sto-Rox passed increases below their maximum limits.
Moon Area could have passed an increase up to 4.3% this year, and Sto-Rox had the option of adopting an increase up to 5.5% without having to ask for voter approval or an exception from the state. According to the Pennsylvania State Education Association, a district’s Act 1 Index starts at a statewide base, and is increased based on a district’s relative wealth, with “lowest wealth districts receiving the largest upward adjustments to the base Index.
Sto-Rox is one of four Pennsylvania school districts in financial recovery, and its school board projects that it will operate at a surplus in the coming academic year, barring potential unforeseen circumstances. This past year, the board reported not needing supplemental State Empowerment funding for operations.
To exit financial recovery status, the district must operate at a surplus for three years, and project five more years with a positive fund balance.
According to a district presentation in March, Moon Area’s tax increase will help to supplement a loss of nearly $800,000 in tax revenue after assessed home values went down last year by more than $32 million.
The district also recently broke ground on a $40 million high school athletics facilities project, although the board plans to pay for the project using bond proceeds and capital reserve funds, rather than the general fund budget.
District Superintendent Jason D’Alesio said revenue generated by the tax increase was needed to cover increased costs in “numerous areas” and added that many districts across the state are facing similar issues.
D’Alesio said one added cost for Moon Area will come in the form of a new collective bargaining agreement with the district’s support staff, the Moon Area Education Support Professionals Association. District trustees approved that new five-year agreement during a special meeting held Tuesday and the union ratified the deal at a June 25 meeting.
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