Jim Thorpe Area School District has not raised property taxes in over a decade, but some administrators and school board members said Wednesday night they wouldn’t oppose breaking that trend in 2024-25.

During a budget discussion at April’s board workshop, Superintendent Robert Presley said the district’s tax rate stability could actually negatively impact its state subsidy going forward.

“The state looks at that and says you have the ability to generate income and you aren’t doing it,” Presley told the board. “We’re actually getting $600 per student less than we were 10 years ago because they look at the fact that our property values are going up, our median household income is going up and our poverty is going down.”

Business Manager Brian Off said Jim Thorpe’s operating budget for 2024-25 currently includes $49 million in expenses without setting anything aside for future capital improvement projects.

“Just in operating expenses, we’re looking at a $2.5 million deficit,” Off said.

While overall expenditures are down from last year, Off said, several areas have jumped significantly, including benefits for staff.

“We are projecting a $913,000 increase,” he said. “We put in a 15% escalator, which is the cap that our consortium allows.”

Jim Thorpe’s fund balance stood at $15 million at the end of 2022-23 and the district is projecting a $1 million loss in 2023-24, leaving at $14 million headed into next year.

Things could get even more difficult, Presley said, pending tax appeals by Split Rock Investments LLC and Penn Forest Entertainment.

“On Split Rock alone, we could lose $75,000 a year going forward,” Presley said.

Per the state’s Act 1 index, Jim Thorpe can raise property taxes a maximum of 2.95 mills, or 6.5%.

Raising taxes by the full 6.5% would generate around $2.6 million in revenue, Off said, offsetting the budget deficit.

Presley said the district, however, could opt for a tax increase under the Act 1 index.

A 2-mill, or 4.39% increase, would generate about $1.73 million.

“When you look at assessed property values around the district, that two-mill increase would mean that around almost 90% of our taxpayers would see an increase of $100 or less,” Presley said. “Nobody likes to hear the word tax increase, but if you do it in small increments, it’s less of a hit on the taxpayers instead of that big jump all at once. Our expenditures are actually down from last year, but revenues just are not keeping up.”

Director Mary Figura, who is in her first term, concurred.

“We probably should have been doing small increments along the way,” Figura said. “Even a half a mill would have been good.”

Asked by colleague Gerald Strubinger if she thought the board as a whole “had the stomach to raise taxes,” Figura answered, “I think so.”

“I don’t know if it will be by 3 mills, but maybe one,” she said.

Jim Thorpe will look to approve its proposed final budget in May, followed by the final budget in June.