BETHLEHEM, Pa. – The Bethlehem Area School Board is looking for ways to close a more than $6.7 million shortfall in the district’s preliminary budget for next year.
“That number is not in any way alarming, but it means we still have work to do,” Superintendent Joseph Roy said Monday night.
- The Bethlehem Area School Board is looking for ways to close a $6.7 million funding gap in next year's preliminary budget
- The district can raise taxes or spend from the general fund to cover the shortfall
- Board President Michael Faccinetto said a tax increase would be a "last resort"
The shortfall reviewed at a board meeting Monday night amounts to roughly 2% of the 2023-24 budget. School board President Michael Faccinetto said a deficit of that size is common around this time of year.
To cover the gap, the board can raise taxes, spend down money from the district’s general fund, or a combination of the two.
"Should we [raise taxes]? Probably, with inflation and expenses going up. But I don’t know that we are going to need to."Bethlehem Area School District board president Michael Faccinetto
“Should we [raise taxes]? Probably, with inflation and expenses going up. But I don’t know that we are going to need to,” said Faccinetto. “I think it’s the last resort.”
Currently, the district’s general fund holds about $20.9 million, enough to cover 7% of the district’s annual expenses; the district targets a fund balance of 5%-8% of expenses. Each one mill increase in property taxes generates about $700,000 for the district annually.
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The board’s calculated shortfall does not include funding to retain 15 instructional and behavior coaches the district hired using one-time grants. Several board members expressed support for keeping the positions next year, at an estimated cost of $1.7 million.
The preliminary budget also doesn’t include funds from the state’s “Level Up” grant program, which the district expects to receive but has yet to be finalized by the Pennsylvania Legislature. Last year, the grant provided $3.8 million for the district, according to Faccinetto.
Higher spending on salaries and increases in the district’s payments to charter schools accounted for the greatest increases in expenses in the new budget, officials said.
Over the coming weeks, the preliminary budget introduced Monday will become a proposed final budget, set for review at the board finance committee’s April 17 meeting.
