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Wyoming Valley West unveils preliminary $100.25 million budget with no tax increase
Summary
The Wyoming Valley West School District presented a preliminary $100,248,348 budget for 2025–26 — a $6,828,032 increase from the current year — and scheduled a special meeting to begin the 30‑day public advertisement period; officials say the plan does not raise local taxes.
The Wyoming Valley West School District on Wednesday presented a preliminary $100,248,348 budget for the 2025–26 school year, an increase of $6,828,032 from the current year, and officials said the proposal includes no local tax increase.
The budget presentation, given to the full School District Board of Education, allocates roughly 68% of spending to instruction and 31% to noninstructional expenses. Board and finance staff said 64% of the district’s total expenses are salaries and benefits. Rob Kuchar, the district’s business/finance manager, summarized revenues and expenses: “Revenue is $100,248,438; expenses $100,126,695. That leaves us with a very, very slim surplus of $121,743.”
Why it matters: Board members said the preliminary budget aims to preserve services and maintain fund balance while leaving cash for capital projects and unforeseeable building repairs. Board member Keating described the document as “only our proposed budget” but emphasized the board was presenting it “with with no tax increase as proposed this evening.” The board noted recent new state funding and grants as drivers of the revenue increase: an increase from state adequacy/equity funding (reported by staff at about $4.8 million), a state charter school funding allocation (about $352,000), and the second year of a BCA grant for which the district budgeted half of the award.
District officials said they took a conservative approach to revenue and tried to anticipate “worst case scenarios” for expenses. Kuchar said the plan also includes allocations back into capital projects and a reserve for unplanned building and grounds costs.
Next steps: The board scheduled a special meeting to begin the 30‑day advertisement period for the preliminary budget. The board set a special meeting for June 20 at 12:00 p.m. to continue the budget process and to meet the statutory advertising timeline before a final vote.
Provenance: Presentation and numbers cited during the finance report and budget discussion at the May 14 board meeting (see transcript excerpts).
