Apr. 20—A tax increase of more than 5 percent and a multimillion-dollar dip into savings is the school's solution to balance an initial version of the Crawford Central School District 2024-25 budget. School officials presented the preliminary budget to board members this week.
If approved, the proposed property tax hike would cost the owner of a home at the district's average assessed value of $30,000 another $93 beginning next year, according to business manager Austin Stofferahn. The increase would bring the annual school tax amount up 5.5 percent to about $1,796.
The preliminary budget includes $67.8 million in projected revenues and $71.1 million in projected expenditures, leaving a deficit of more than $4.3 million. In addition to the tax increase, Stofferahn proposed using $3.1 million from the district's fund balance to eliminate the deficit. The fund balance stood at $15.6 million at the end of March.
The projected expenses constitute a 2 percent spending increase over the current budget.
The preliminary budget estimates that the state will contribute $1.4 million in basic education funding that year, which is less than the $1.7 million in Gov. Josh Shapiro's proposed budget, according to Stofferahn.
The projected deficit is significantly larger than the $3.1 million projected during the board's budget discussions last year.
Easily the most significant change compared to the current year is the end of pandemic-related federal funding. The district received about $12 million over three years. Stofferahn said federal pandemic relief accounted for $3.89 million in district revenue for the current school year.
Also contributing to rising expenses are health care costs. With projected costs of $7.8 million — up from $6.7 million this year — health care is expected to account for 11 percent of the budget, according to Stofferahn.
"They're a lot worse than expected," Stofferahn said of the health care increases. "Our health care costs are going up a staggering 17 percent this year."
Salaries are expected to increase by approximately $800,000.
"I know it looks like a lot," Stofferahn said, "but that's a fairly mild year for salary increases."
Benefits-related expenditures go up by approximately $984,000 in the preliminary budget.
The board is expected to vote on the preliminary budget at its May 20 meeting. The final budget must be approved by June 30, with the board expected to vote at its June 24 meeting.
The board next meets for its monthly voting meeting at 5:30 p.m. Monday at 11280 Mercer Pike.
Mike Crowley can be reached at (814) 724-6370 or by email at mcrowley@meadvilletribune.com.