Nazareth Area School Board adopts preliminary budget that sets tax increase at no more than 2 percent

FROM THE EXPRESS TIMES

The Nazareth Area School Board adopted a preliminary budget Monday that can still change dramatically over the next few months. What won’t change, however, is the maximum the district can raise property taxes.

School board members approved a preliminary $69.18 million 2012-13 budget that increases spending 3.6 percent over the current spending plan. The budget includes a 0.95-mill property tax increase or a 2 percent hike, pushing the district’s tax rate to 48.64 mills.

The proposed 2 percent tax hike means the owner of a property assessed at the district average of $67,400 would pay $74 more annually in taxes.

Superintendent Victor Lesky said the board’s passage of a preliminary budget had not bound officials to any final decisions, but it did finalize the tax increase to no more than 2 percent, the state limit.

The district can no longer go back to the Pennsylvania Department of Education and ask for a larger tax increase for any reason, Lesky said.

“We’ve closed that window tonight,” he said.

As proposed, the school district would balance its budget with the tax increase and $551,000 from its fund balance, according to Lesky. He has a “priority list” of possible budget cuts in order to close the shortfall, but Lesky said he's waiting for Gov. Tom Corbett to release his proposed budget Feb. 7 before making any recommendations.

“We’re looking to make a half a million dollars in cuts just to make this goal,” Lesky told board members. “To go further than that would be fantastic. We have a lot of work to do.”

The district built its preliminary budget on the assumption state funding would not increase. Even a modest increase from the state, say 2 percent, would shrink the deficit, Lesky said.

The school board on Jan. 3 directed Lesky to write letters to the teacher and custodial unions, the district's two largest labor unions, and ask members to accept a wage freeze or some type of deferment.

The administration, administrative support staff and administrative assistants, for example, agreed to defer pay raises this year for six months, leaving them without a raise for 18 months, Lesky said. The teacher and custodial unions represent about 375 employees, and a full wage freeze would nearly close the roughly $551,000 budget gap by cutting about $490,000 in expenses, he said.

A six-month deferral similar to the one accepted by the administration would cut that deficit roughly in half, Lesky said, adding the district has agreed not to furlough any employees in exchange for some type of wage freeze. He has not yet heard from the unions.

The district’s staffing requirements will also begin to take shape next month. Kindergarten enrollment numbers are starting to come in and anyone expecting to retire next year is due to notify the district by March 1 at which point the district can decide which positions need to be filled, according to Lesky.

http://www.lehighvalleylive.com/nazareth/index.ssf/2012/01/nazareth_school_board_adopts_p.html