At a special meeting, Council Rock School Board approved the Final General Fund Budget for the 2022-2023 academic year. The district originally proposed a 1.599% tax increase to achieve a fully-funded budget, but when some board members balked at the amount they reached a compromise of 1.25%.
Multiple board members expressed concerns over the size of the tax increase as well as the ability of the district to tap into its fund balance to lower the tax burden for families.
“I have said from the beginning that I would prefer to be below that number,” said member Bob Hickey.
Board President Edward Salamon agreed and brought up the district’s existing surplus revenue (Fund Balance) of approximately $32.91 million as a way to lower the proposed tax increase.
Salamon said, “1.599 fully paying for everything is one thing, but we also have to face a community that says they’re struggling a little bit and we’re sitting on $32 million.”
On the other side, Board Member Yota Palli, who was supportive of the 1.599% proposal, said “That (fund balance revenue) could decrease much more than we anticipate, and it’s not that we found whatever extra $9 or $10 million and we were sitting on it because the fund balance is less than 10% of the budget ... and it is a good cushion to have in case things go badly.”
She added, “Also, having a healthy fund balance would increase our credit rating, and that means that if we borrow money for say building schools or other things, we would have very favorable terms.”
Despite support from Palli and two other board members, the budget motion with the existing 1.599% tax increase failed 6-3. Salamon then set out to find a compromisable number to satisfy all parties.
“It’s a sign of good faith to use a million dollars that we captured last year and give it back to the taxpayer, keep it at 1% (tax increase),” he opined.
After a discussion with Director of Business Administration Jason Harris regarding the district’s fund balances over the past seven years, Palli said, “I would compromise at 1.25 at this point. I really don’t want to go less than that, I’m really worried about the trends.”
Several other board members quickly signed on to the 1.25% compromise. Member Joseph Hidalgo echoed that sentiment. “I think we’re in the range between 1 and 1.25. That’s pretty reasonable historically, and if we overshoot, we’ll adjust next year.”
Kristin Marcell was the lone Board Member not supportive of the compromise, saying she would like a number lower than 1.25%. Despite this, the board ultimately approved the budget by an 8-1 vote, concluding what was a lengthy but successful process.
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