EXETER — By a narrow 5-4 vote the Wyoming Area School Board approved a final 2021-22 budget Tuesday with a 2.05% property tax increase, half of the maximum increase allowed by state law.
The four no votes were from Lara Best, Carmen Bolin, Phillip Campenni and John Marianacci.
Before the vote, Business Consultant Tom Melone gave a budget presentation noting increases in revenue not including in the earlier proposed budget, including $140,000 in federal money for the special needs students about $1.9 million in federal COVID-19 relief money, and better-than-expected revenue from state and local sources during the pandemic.
But spending has also gone up with the settlement of two employee contracts and a big jump in tuition payments for students who left the district to attend cyber charter schools.
Melone gave three proposals: No tax increase, which would result in a shortfall of $935,185, a 2.05% increase that would reduce the shortfall to $696,042, or a 4.1% increase that would lower it to $276,796. In all three cases, the shortfall would be covered by the district Fund Balance, expected to be about $2.6 million at the end of this fiscal year, June 30.
The last choice would have been the highest increase allowed under the state law known as Act 1, which annually sets a limit for each school district. The limit can only be exceeded with voter approval or by gaining state approval for a narrow list of exceptions.
Reach Mark Guydish at 570-991-6112 or on Twitter @TLMarkGuydish
