Elizabethtown board sets preliminary budget direction: 2% tax increase, hiring limits to reduce shortfall

The Elizabethtown Area School District board on April 8 gave administration a clear budget direction as it moves toward adoption of a preliminary budget: the board majority said it favored a 2% operating tax increase while keeping a previously approved 0.5% transfer to the district's building fund, and it directed that currently open positions not be refilled while staff analyze other cost reductions.

The board's finance chair, Mr. Strickler, in a detailed presentation summarized the district's current fiscal picture and multiple scenarios showing how different tax rates would affect the district's projected fund balance. “We are not guessing anything. We're going with a straight 0,” Strickler said when describing payroll assumptions used in the models that produced projected deficits under lower tax scenarios.

The board’s directive is intended to shrink a projected operating gap that Strickler showed could range into the hundreds of thousands of dollars under a low tax increase. At the meeting the administration noted a recent special-education cost increase the district learned about after the materials were posted—about $200,000—would worsen every scenario unless offset.

Why it matters

The board’s guidance sets the parameters for the district’s formal preliminary budget, which must be advertised for public review before final adoption. Those choices will influence whether the district draws on general-fund balance or makes program and staffing reductions. The board and administration repeatedly emphasized the tradeoff between raising local taxes and cutting programs or positions.

The decision and what's next

Board members debated multiple options, including a larger tax increase and targeted cuts. After discussion a majority of board members signaled support for a 2% operating increase; the board clerk recorded that five members supported that option. Board members also gave differing instructions on which of nine currently open positions should be filled; ultimately the board directed administration to proceed with assuming the open positions would not be refilled for the preliminary budget and to bring the updated budget back for a vote at the board’s advertised meetings in late May.

Administrators were asked to return with more specific cost details before the May 27 preliminary/adoption milestones: a precise calculation of the cost of not filling each open position, an updated projection that incorporates the $200,000 special-education change, and options for using the Ready to Learn/kindergarten grant to offset personnel costs if the board elects to pause planned full‑day kindergarten hires. Superintendent Dr. Nel said the grant reallocation would be presented as an action item at an upcoming meeting if the board wants to revisit the full-day kindergarten staffing plan.

What the board did not do

The board did not formally adopt a final budget at the workshop; it provided direction for the preliminary budget and asked administration to prepare numbers for public review. Board members also agreed there will be no contract approvals affecting professional payroll between now and the next budget meeting, and that any decisions about collective-bargaining agreement increases and final staffing will be reflected in later votes once negotiations and additional analysis are complete.

Context and numbers cited at the meeting

- Projected total expenditures for 2025–26 shown in the presentation were roughly $81 million. - Strickler estimated a projected fund-balance level of about $7.2 million under certain scenarios and warned about the effect of continued withdrawals on the district’s bond promises tied to capital reserves. - The administration said the district has already identified roughly $300,000 in additional administrative reductions and asked for further, targeted direction from the board on what to cut.

Board members asked staff to return with a narrower set of options (specific positions and program-level dollar amounts) so that the public and board can see the tradeoffs between tax increases and reductions in services.

Ending

The board will vote on a published preliminary budget at future meetings after the 30‑day public review period. Administrators said revised budget slide decks and supporting documents will be uploaded to the district website overnight to reflect an updated special‑education figure discussed during the workshop.