WEST CHESTER, Pa. – Media reports tell us that property taxes just keep going up in the West Chester, Pennsylvania school district.

In 2016, the school board passed a budget with a tax increase of 2.7 percent in Chester County and 5.8 percent in Delaware County, according to DailyLocal.com.

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In 2017, the board passed a budget with a tax increase of 2.9 percent in Chester County and 3.5 percent in Delaware County, the same publication reported.

When the 2017 tax increase was passed, school officials explained that they had made a significant effort to cut costs in the district’s payroll by deciding not to fill 12 vacant job positions, which saved $1.2 million, the news service reported.

“We did not fill several positions due to retirement, which provided substantial and sustainable savings,” Superintendent James Scanlon was quoted as saying by DailyLocal.com.

But a glance at the West Chester administrative payroll suggests that a lot more money could have been trimmed from the administrative payroll if officials were serious about saving taxpayer dollars.

In fiscal 2016-17, 57 district administrators were paid a combined $7,470,682.07 in base salary, for an average of $131,064.60 per employee. That’s just straight salary, without benefits or perks figured in.

The superintendent made 256,178. The assistant superintendent made $184,680. The director of business affairs made $185,040.

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The human resources program director made $161,162. That person had an assistant making $109,606.

The director of pupil services made $169,156. There was also a supervisor of students services, who made $112,529.

The director of facilities and operations made $159,246. The director of elementary education made $168,311.

There were two directors of technology, making $159,246 and $124,023, respectively.

Even lower-level administrators made out really well, For example, there were 11 middle school assistant principals ranging in base salary from $124,529 to $109,430. They were paid a total of S1,315,022, which breaks down to an average of salary $119,545.

So the next time West Chester school officials raise property taxes, and explain that they’ve already tightened their belts to cut payroll expenses, taxpayers should take it with a big grain of salt.