Barring any major changes, it could take a 4.1% property tax increase and a $1.6 million use of reserves to balance Palmerton Area School District’s 2021-22 budget.

Business Manager Ryan Kish presented Palmerton’s school board with an update Tuesday night on the projected $35.26 million budget.

Palmerton raised taxes 1.8% last year after two consecutive years of holding the line. The 4.1% increase would be the largest Palmerton could approve under the state’s Act 1 index.

Without tax increases, Kish said, Palmerton’s fund balance could be depleted by the end of 2023-24.

“This has been an awful year,” board President Kathy Fallow said. “Our kids have suffered so much. Our teachers have dealt with so much. I would be in favor of an (Act 1) index tax increase. I know that won’t fall softly on anyone’s ears, but I think our kids need it.”

A 4.1% increase would generate $695,000 in revenue and cost a homeowner with an average assessment an additional $104.

“I’m not sure we have much of a choice,” Director Audrey Larvey said. “We ultimately may run out of money otherwise.”

Earl Paules concurred, noting that while salaries, benefits and other expenses consistently go up, the only way to match that is through tax increases.

“I don’t know how you can have a year when taxes don’t go up at least a little bit because everything else is always on the rise,” Paules said.

Major increases over last year’s budget include $837,000 in salaries and benefits, $170,000 in Public School Employees’ Retirement System contributions, $429,000 in medical benefits and $200,000 in charter school tuition.

The 2021-22 budget includes two new positions; a high school technology teacher and an elementary special education teacher.

“We have made some revisions to the amount of tax revenue we expect to get since our preliminary budget presentation earlier this year,” Kish said. “We raised the expected earned income tax $42,000 based on an updated multiyear trend and upped the real estate tax collection rate from 93.5% to 94%, or an additional $86,000.”

On the flip side, support staff and administrative contract changes will result in extra $44,000 expenditure since the February budget update. An agreement to pay Lehighton Area School District for tuition owed from previous school years also added $57,000.

Palmerton plans to vote on a proposed final budget in May, before voting on a final budget in June.

Grant funding

Though not all of it will be available in the 2021-22 school year, Kish outlined how much Palmerton is set to receive from various COVID-19 related grants. The district will have $247,850 available from the COVID-19 Health and Safety Grant and plans to use funds on technology to assist with virtual and in-person learning and behavioral/emotional health interventions.

The first round of Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief funding made $266,679 available to Palmerton, which plans to use funds on classroom technology to assist with virtual and in-person instruction.

Palmerton will have $1,184,533 available from the second round of Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief funding and plans to focus those dollars on technology items such as classroom whiteboards and a one-to-one Chromebook initiative.

The third round of Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief funding should yield $2,395,698 to the district, which plans to use the money to address learning loss through evidence-based interventions such as summer learning or summer enrichment, before and after school programs and behavioral/emotional health counseling services or programs.