Lehighton projects no tax hike

Lehighton Area School District administrators are projecting a fifth straight year without a property tax increase when the 2019-20 spending plan is voted on later this year.

The school board took the first step toward that Monday, when it voted to stay within the district’s state-calculated Act 1 index of 3.2 percent, meaning that would be the maximum possible tax increase without a referendum or exception from the state Department of Education.

According to a preliminary budget, Lehighton is projecting revenues of $41.15 million and expenditures of $41.48 million, leaving a $323,492 gap to be filled by the district’s fund balance.

That number is fluid, said Lehighton Business Manager Brian Feick, and could change depending on the outcome of Carbon Career and Technical Institute’s budget.

“At this point, we are not recommending the district approve the CCTI budget because of their steady excess in fund balance,” Feick said.

At Lehighton’s most recent finance committee meeting, Feick estimated another $150,000-$200,000 could come off the district’s budget projections due to the request for a decreased allotment to CCTI.

Lehighton director David Bradley Sr. questioned the district’s use of its own fund balance, claiming past “overtaxation” fluffed it to a point where the district could pull from it at will.

“When I came here, the fund balance was larger than it needed to be, and we developed a five-year plan to get it down to what it should be,” Feick said. “We paid for the stadium completely out of the fund balance. Last year, we requested $1.8 million to balance the budget, and this year, that request is down to just over $300,000 and could drop even more. We are seeing a reduction in expenditures.”

At past meetings, Bradley said he would have liked to see the district refund taxpayers as opposed to spending the money in the fund balance.

The district is projecting to have $3.8 million in its unassigned fund balance following the 2018-19 school year.

Utility renovations across the district are showing positive results. Feick said the middle school alone has decreased electric usage by 50 percent, even though the district added air conditioning. Electric usage at the high school decreased by 25 percent.

Five Lehighton teachers have announced their intent to retire after the 2018-19 school year. They are Donald Herman, elementary teacher; Vicky Kocher, elementary teacher; Larry Koons, physical education teacher; Jennifer Lopata, secondary math teacher; and Robin Roberts, elementary teacher. While all will be replaced, the financial savings is still estimated to be around $200,000, Feick informed the finance committee.

In terms of the state’s contribution to the local budget, a 3 percent increase is estimated based on Feick’s discussions with the Pennsylvania Association of School Business Officials.

One area where Feick expressed concern with the budget is the two closed elementary school properties, Franklin and Shull-David, still sitting on the district’s books. Both buildings are minimally heated through the winter to avoid deterioration, he added.

A recent propane bill at Franklin was $3,000, and the building needs a new roof, removal of asbestos and some boiler maintenance when sold. The estimate is $600,000 for roof and $200,000 for asbestos removal.

Of the two buildings, Franklin has received most, if not all, of the interest from prospective buyers.

“Since December, about half a dozen individuals or companies have requested more information,” Superintendent Jonathan Cleaver said. “We don’t have any actual offers at this point.”

Lehighton solicitor William Schwab said based on a conversation he had with an interested party requesting more information, he expects some type of formal offer or submission within the next two weeks.

“It will be up to the board if they want to do an auction, like we did with Mahoning and East Penn, or a private sale,” Schwab said.