Elizabethtown Area SD budget presentation shows $1.6M shortfall; board weighs tax increase or cuts

Elizabethtown Area School District administrators presented a revised 2025-26 budget on March 26 that projects a $1,609,679 shortfall under current payroll levels and options that would require tax increases between roughly 3.5% and 4.75% unless the board approves additional cuts or uses fund balance.

The district's finance director, Mr. Strickler, told the board the administration's current draft reduces a previously proposed $84 million budget to about $81,391,934 in revised requests. “I will not guess,” Strickler said when asked about payroll increases tied to ongoing contract talks; the draft keeps payroll at 2024-25 levels until negotiations conclude. He said the district would need about a 3.46% tax increase to balance the budget without changes, and that the current revenue proposal equates to about a 4.75% increase to reach the board’s target number.

The proposed budget leaves some lines flatlined and flags three areas—business office, special education and buildings and grounds—as highlighted because the administration believes…