Shippensburg board reviews budget scenarios and personnel priorities as Act 1 index falls to 5.3%

Caleb, the district budget presenter, told the Shippensburg Area School District board at its committee meeting that the district’s starting general fund balance was about $17.2 million as of June 30, 2024, and that a $590,552 surplus from 2023–24 had been assigned back into fund balance.

The presentation focused on revenue and expense drivers for 2025–26 and several tax-rate options. “Our Act 1 index for this upcoming year is 5.3%. So we cannot go higher than 5.3%,” Caleb said, explaining the state cap that limits how far the district can raise real-estate taxes without seeking exceptions. He presented five scenarios: no tax increase and increases of roughly 2.6%, 3.5%, 4.5% and the full 5.3% index. Under the no-increase scenario Caleb projected a structural deficit of roughly $3.8–4.2 million for 2025–26 after adding planned additional personnel, a conservative debt-service line and a $200,000 transfer to the capital projects fund. Raising taxes to the Act 1 index (5.3%) was estimated to produce about $1.8 million in new tax revenue from the rate change plus an estimated $326,000…