Marple Newtown presents proposed final 2025-26 budget; trustees to vote on schedule
Loading...
Summary
District staff presented a proposed final budget that projects a $4 million increase in recurring expenses and outlines timing to meet the 30-day state requirement for adopting a final budget, noting risks from commercial tax appeals and fluctuating investment income.
Dom Duvernois, district staff member, presented the Marple Newtown School District proposed final budget for 2025–26 and told the board the district faces about $4 million in increased recurring expenses that likely will require a tax-rate increase to balance the budget.
Duvernois said the increase is “primarily driven from salaries and benefits” — roughly $2.5 million — along with higher utility costs and increased bus-lease expenses. He told the board the district’s recurring expenditures under the proposed budget are about $115,200,000 compared with last year’s final budget of about $111,200,000, producing the $4 million increase. He said the district currently shows about $1,400,000 in investment income in the budget and warned that a rapid decline in interest rates would pose a risk to that revenue.
The presentation also reviewed revenue drivers. Duvernois said roughly half of a projected $1 million local revenue increase comes from assessed-value growth — new properties, additions and renovations — which raises tax receipts without a tax-rate change. He noted state revenues in the proposal reflect the subsidy figures from the state budget the district received last year, and that federal revenues in the budget include roughly $900,000 in food-service funding that primarily flows through the Delaware County Intermediate Unit. He also identified potential downside risks “not currently present in the budget,” including large outstanding commercial tax appeals that could reduce assessed value.
Duvernois reminded the board that it adopted a resolution in November not to exceed the Act 1 index; the Act 1 index for the year is 4 percent (down from 5.3 percent the prior year), and the district did not seek exceptions to exceed that index. He explained the statutory timing constraint that requires at least 30 days between adopting a proposed final budget and adopting the final budget. Because the May and June board meetings do not provide the required 30-day interval, he said the district will adopt a proposed final budget at the May meeting and must schedule a May 27 special meeting (or otherwise satisfy the 30-day rule) to adopt the final budget.
On possible tax scenarios, Duvernois said a tax rate shown at 2.94 percent on his slide would produce a balanced budget but would not create additional funds for debt service or to offset the revenue risks he described. He told board members he would provide finalized numbers at the May meeting for a vote on the proposed final budget.
Board discussion during the presentation was brief; no formal motion or vote on the budget occurred at the April meeting. Duvernois asked whether there were questions and confirmed staff would return in two weeks with the proposed final budget for the board to adopt before the final adoption meeting.
