Spring-Ford board hears options to close $7.4 million budget gap; Pfizer assessment appeal could add $3M yearly loss

SPRING-FORD AREA SCHOOL DISTRICT — The district’s finance team on Monday presented three options to close a roughly $7.400.000 budget shortfall for the 2025–26 school year and warned trustees a separate commercial property assessment appeal tied to the former Pfizer campus could reduce tax revenue by about $3.0–$3.4 million annually if a settlement or court decision stands.

The presentation by Mr. Fink, the district finance presenter, laid out a “scenario 1” that would use roughly $1.6–$1.73 million in PDE (Pennsylvania Department of Education) referendum exceptions and about $300,000 from a debt-service drop-off to bring the tax increase to about 5.14% for 2025–26; the administration put that version on the agenda for a vote next week.

Why it matters: the board must adopt a budget by law before the fiscal year begins, and choices this year affect borrowing capacity, the district’s ability to pay for planned capital projects and the size of future budget gaps.

Mr. Fink said, “This is where we are. So it’s not a big difference from where we were in April. We had some add ons and we had some take offs, but they kind of negated each other. So when we look at it, the current total gap is about $7,400,000.” He described how PDE referendum exceptions — an accounting allowance tied largely to special-education cost growth — would…