Plum Borough School District is funded by a combination of: a local earned income tax 0.5%, Per Capita Tax (Act 511 and School Code) at $10.00, a property tax, a real estate transfer tax 0.5%, Local Service Tax - $5.00 a year and grants, coupled with substantial funding from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the federal government. Interest earnings on accounts also provide nontax income to the District. In the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, pension income and Social Security income are exempted from state personal income tax and local earned income tax, regardless of the level of the individual's personal wealth. The average Pennsylvania public school teacher pension in 2011 exceeds $60,000 a year plus they receive federal Social Security benefits: both are free of Pennsylvania state income tax and local income tax which funds local public schools. For the 2013-14 school year, the Plum Borough School District will receive a 2.3% increase or $12,539,153 in Pennsylvania Basic Education Funding. This is $30,537 more than its 2012-13 state BEF to the District. Additionally, Plum Borough School District will receive $21,713 in Accountability Block Grant funding to focus on academic achievement and level funding for special education services. Among the public school districts in Allegheny County, South Fayette Township School District received the highest percentage increase at 5,5%. The District has the option of applying for several other state and federal grants to increase revenues. The Commonwealth's budget increased Basic Education Funding statewide by $123 million to over $5.5 billion. Most of Pennsylvania's 500 public school districts received an increase of Basic Education Funding in a range of 0.9% to 4%. Eight public school districts received exceptionally high funding increases of 10% to 16%. The highest increase in state funding was awarded to Austin Area School District which received a 22.5% increase in Basic Education Funding. The state funded the PSERS (Pennsylvania school employee pension fund) with $1,017,000,000 and Social Security payments for school employees of $495 million. For the 2012-13 school year, the Plum Borough School District received $12,482,523 in state Basic Education Funding. The Governor's Executive Budget for 2012-2013 includes $9.34 billion for kindergarten through 12th grade public education, including $5.4 billion in basic education funding, which is an increase of $49 million over the 2011-12 budget. The state also provides $100 million for the Accountability Block grant. Plum Borough School District received $21,713 in Accountability Block Grant funding to focus on academic achievement.