Souderton Area School District (SASD) unanimously approved the proposed 2023–24 budget on June 22. The $147,595,007-budget reflects the Act 1 index increase of 4.1%.
The current tax rate is 31.440 mills. The new tax rate will be 32.729 mills.
The Montgomery County Homestead/Farmstead Report from May 1 listed the median homestead value for Souderton Area School District as $157,685. The real estate tax increase is estimated to increase the median valued homestead tax bill by $203.26.
The budget shows no cuts in programs or personnel.
The approved budget and local tax rate to support it are established as listed:
• Real estate tax of 32.7290 mills and a per capita tax of $5 under Section 679 be levied, and
• The following Act 511 taxes are continued for the 2022-23 fiscal year:
• Real estate transfer tax of 1% (0.5% school, 0.5% municipality)
• Earned income tax of 1% (0.5% school, 0.5% municipality)
• Per capita tax of $10 ($5 school, $5 municipality)
Those three taxes, under Act 511, are shared equally with participating municipalities.
A deficit of $1,962,222 would be made up from fund balance.
The proposed budget has been available for public inspection on the district website since April 28.
According to school board secretary Michael Taylor, the top three factors for the deficit were a $3.6M increase in special education expenditures; a $500K increase in electricity expenditures; and a $700K increase in debt service for the current renovations of Franconia Elementary and Indian Valley Middle schools. Other budgetary pressures include those stemming from inflationary costs.
Taylor reported, “Next year’s budget is facing significant pressure from the rapidly growing special education expenditures, which is comprised of more students needing services, an increase in the services that these students need and the rising costs of the contracted services for these students.”
The district is experiencing an overall reduction in enrollment while students in special education programs are rising. Students in special education programs comprise 21% of the student population and the budget factors for these programs account for 21.6% of the proposed budget.
In other business, the board unanimously appointed William Formica to fill the vacant seat left by the resignation of Donna Scheuren last month after 12 years on the board. Scheuren, in November, was elected to the state House of Representatives in the 147th Legislative District.
Board members said they chose Formica because he received the highest number of votes of all the primary candidates in the May Primary election.
President Ken Keith announced there will be no scheduled school board meetings in July. The next scheduled school board meeting will be held on Aug. 9 at 7 p.m.
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