Panther Valley OKs budget on sixth try

With a state deadline looming, the Panther Valley School District board of directors passed a budget Thursday night with a lower tax increase than what administrators recommended.

At a special meeting, the school board voted 6-1 to approve a spending plan that increases taxes by 1.6 percent for Carbon County residents, and 4.4 percent for Schuylkill.

The special meeting only took place because at its regular June meeting, the school board rejected the budget that was recommended by the superintendent and business manager. That plan would have raised taxes by 3.37 percent for Carbon, and 5.53 percent for Schuylkill.

The board voted on four different budgets, each one failing to pass. Then, board member Joseph Faenza changed his vote, which prompted the other members to join him.

The other options included the budget they rejected earlier this month, and a no-tax increase budget which would have left the district with just $500,000 in its general fund at the end of the year.

The budget includes $26,913,851 in expenses, about 3.5 percent more than the 2017-18 budget. The largest cost increases came in the form of pension contributions and charter school tuition.

According to district business manager Ken Marx, the tax increase will be $25 or less for the 75 percent of homeowners in the district whose homes are assessed at $25,000 or less.

The final vote was 6-1, with Irene Genther voting against it. Justin Foster and Keith Krapf were absent, and Renee DeMelfi voted by phone.

The state requires school districts to pass their budgets by June 30 or risk losing funding. State funding makes up 50 percent of the district’s budget.

DeMelfi blamed the state for using a funding formula that she said does not fairly distribute funding to lower-income school districts. She said the state continues to “put the squeeze” on taxpayers.

“I don’t understand why Panther Valley students aren’t getting what the wealthy schools do,” she said. “There has to be some kind of fair distribution.”

Board President Wayne Gryzik said he does not support tax increases, but he warned that continuing to ignore the bottom line could someday result in a state takeover of the school district.

“I’d really hate to see the state come in here and bang everybody on taxes,” he said.

Genther asked if there was anything else that could be cut from the budget. Superintendent Dennis Kergick Sr. said that the only meaningful savings would come by cutting staff, which he could not recommend.

“We’re already bare bones,” he said.