Tamaqua Area school directors got their first look at the proposed 2025-26 budget which calls for no tax increase, despite a more than $800,000 deficit tied to capital projects and maintenance.

Business Manager Connie Ligenza last week told the board that the administration is not recommending a tax increase, due in part to an increase the subsidy from the state, including adequacy funding.

The district is anticipating $21.2 million in funding from the state, or $50.87% of its projected revenues. Local revenues are projected at 47.7% of the budget, or $19.7 million, she said.

“The state revenue is creeping over 50% (of the district’s total revenues),” Ligenza said, adding that may be the first time that’s happened in many of the board members’ long tenures.

“The adequacy supplement is definitely addressing some of the funding gap from the Commonwealth,” she said. “So that’s good news.”

State funding

Tamaqua Area anticipates $3.23 million in adequacy funding as proposed in Gov. Josh Shapiro’s budget.

More than 360 underfunded school districts are eligible for the funding as a result of the fair funding lawsuit, which found the state’s funding system unconstitutional.

The governor’s budget also proposed $10.7 million basic education funding and $2.14 million in special education funding for Tamaqua Area, and the numbers are incorporated into the district’s proposed budget, Ligenza said.

The other reason to hold off on any tax increase was the district was reducing its fund balance to offset the deficit, she said.

The beginning fund balance in the 2025-26 spending plan is $3,837,722 and ending fund balance is $3,014,491, a difference of $823,228.

Almost all of that deficit is tied to future capital projects, maintenance and upgrades to technology, as well as infrastructure, Ligenza said.

List of projects

Last year, the board set aside $1 million to fund a list of projects identified by its chief operations officer, Kenny Dunkelberger, she said.

“We’re recommending that we proceed down that path yet again,” Ligenza said. “We were able to get quite a number of things completed, but … the hill is high and long.

“We’ll continue to address some of the issues we have in our buildings and grounds,” she said.

The proposed budget has an ending fund balance of $3.01 million, which is between the minimum of 5% at $2.12 million and 8% at $3.41 million that the district is required to maintain.

Last year, the board opted to increase taxes 3.17 mills, bringing the millage rate to 44.93 mills. Maintaining the minimum fund balance was the driving force behind last year’s tax hike.

The district cannot raise taxes this year above the index of 5.6% set under Act 1, the Taxpayer Relief Act, or which Ligenza said was about 2.3 mills. Each mill generates $324.355 and a 2.3 mill increase would give the district an additional $750,000, she said.

The administration is recommending against a tax increase in its $42.6 million spending plan.

Revenues are anticipated at $41,755,213 combined with the beginning fund balance gives the district $45,592,935 in total available funds.

Expenditures are projected at $42,578,441, leaving an ending fund balance of $3.014 million — a deficit of $823,228.

Overall revenue increased by 5.5%, or $2.17 million, and expenditures also increased by 6.7%, or $2.67 million, Ligenza told the board.

Salaries are up 4.36%, or $436,313, driven by contract estimates and cost of living increase of 2.96%, she said. Benefits are also up by 9%, or $1,155,664.

The district’s charter school funding continues to rise with an increase of 26% over last year, or $500,000, Ligenza said.

“The tuition to charter schools continues to grow at rates that are just quite frankly, crazy,” she said.

Ligenza provided the board with a snapshot of charter school spending from 2006-07 to 2023-24, when the district expended $2.75 million, an increase of 31% or $649,746.

“Our current enrollment, as of February, was at 270 students, and that’s a combination of both special education and regular education students; brick and mortar, which is Gillingham Charter School, as well as the numerous cyber charters that continue to be supported by district throughout Pennsylvania,” she said.

The majority of those students are enrolled in Commonwealth Charter Academy, Ligenza said.

“Everybody is complaining about the same thing,” Superintendent Ray Kinder said. “I think, more so than before, we’re getting kids that were already at a cyber school, moved into our district and then just remained.”

These would be students who were never in the district’s schools, but live now live within the district, he said.

“Now, they’re our responsibility to pay the bills for,” Kinder said. “I think we’re getting more of those than we have before.”

Director Dan Schoener asked about seeing cyber school populations in other districts, and if that was available. Ligenza said there is a survey that rotates, but she wasn’t sure it was updated.

Board members also questioned the number of cyber school students, their grade levels and how many are special education.

The board approved expenses total $1,044,500, and include, with the assistance of the boosters, soccer uniforms for $6,000, and girls basketball uniforms for $3,500; the $1 million to support buildings, infrastructure and technology which will continue to be discussed; and budget reserve for salary increase for staff that move across the pay schedule, Ligenza said.

Kinder noted that they’ve asked for items that come up every year, such as in athletics with the reconditioning of football helmets, to include it in the athletics budget, so there isn’t a need to ask each year.

“You need to get the helmets reconditioned,” he said. “You really don’t have a choice.”

Kinder also reminded the board that the district is looking at new band uniforms in 2027 or 2028.

“We talked about that. It’s going to be a big number,” he said, adding that they may want to begin looking at how they’ll fund the purchase, possibly over multiple years.