The Panther Valley school board will need a special meeting to pass a 2022-23 budget.

A proposed tax increase which passed earlier this month failed to get enough votes for final approval Thursday night.

The vote to pass the budget was 4-2 - one vote short of the five votes needed.

The proposed budget would have raised taxes by 1.5% in Carbon County and 3.7% in Schuylkill County.

It includes $30,957,116.19 in expenses, which would leave the district with $2,186,808.73 in its fund balance at the end of the 2022-23 school year. Expenses have decreased by $3.1 million, because last year’s budget included COVID relief funds that allowed the district to build its fund balance.

The district administration recommended the tax increase to make up for money lost from businesses which have closed in recent years. KME in Nesquehoning closed in March, and at least some of the property will be tax exempt because Reading & Northern Railroad acquired it. The former Silberline facility in Lansford is now tax exempt after the borough acquired it. The borough is also acquiring the site of another shuttered business, Hill’s Machine Shop.

Board President Daniel Matika said the district needs to generate revenue to continue serving its students.

“You get voted into this position to keep the school going, and get education to the kids,” Matika said.

Steven Foster, Keith Krapf and Gary Porembo were absent from the meeting.

Voting against the budget were Renee DeMelfi and Joseph Faenza. Faenza voted in favor of the same budget June 1. He participated in the meeting by phone and wasn’t available for comment.

DeMelfi said it is not the right time to raise the school tax rate, which is the highest in Carbon and Schuylkill counties.

“There’s too many things going on for us to do that to our families,” said school board member Renee DeMelfi.

The board did not consider any other budget options Wednesday night. In May, some of the board members who voted no on the proposed budget supported a smaller tax increase.

The board will hold a special budget meeting before the June 30 deadline for schools to pass budgets. A date for the meeting had not been finalized as of Thursday night.

In other business:

The board accepted resignations from Robert Shannon, JROTC instructor; Joseph Bradley, JSHS science teacher; Julia Dennis, kindergarten teacher; and Victoria Bright, eighth-grade science teacher. All took effect immediately.

The board approved a cooperative agreement to allow students from Weatherly to participate in marching band.