Saint Mary's Area School District adopts $38,473,480 budget, sets tax levies for 2025-26

The Saint Mary's Area School District Board of Directors approved the 2025-26 general fund budget of $38,473,480 during its May 12, 2025, regular meeting, adopting tax levies and a fund-balance commitment schedule.

The budget was approved by roll call. The motion to adopt the 2025-26 general fund budget passed with recorded “yes” votes from Julie Bensch, Timothy Brown, Jeff Capposse, Doctor Horning, Christine Keebler, Amy Cleaver, Stacy McGee and Lewis Murray. The board also specified tax levies read into the record as part of the budget motion and the schedule for printing and distribution of tax bills.

The budget sets the following levies as read aloud at the meeting: 46.23 mills on real estate; 65.12 mills on the assessed value of oil, gas and minerals; “1,450 mils of occupational assessment” (as stated during the meeting); a $10 local services tax to be shared with Fox J in Benazette Township; a $5 local services tax from the city of Saint Mary’s; a 1% earned income tax to be shared with municipalities; a 1% real estate transfer tax to be shared with municipalities; a $5 Section 679 per-capita tax for residents of all municipalities; and a $5 Section 511 per-capita tax for residents of all municipalities. The board recorded that real estate tax bills will be printed by the Elk County Assessment Office and that occupational assessment and per-capita bills will be printed by Charles Bloom III; all tax bills were to be sent out on or about July 1, 2025.

Why it matters: the budget provides the district’s spending plan for the upcoming school year and sets the tax rates that fund operations and reserves. The board also adopted a policy-driven approach to its fund balance: in accordance with Policy 620 of the district manual, the district will seek to maintain an unassigned general fund balance of no less than 6% and no more than 8% of budgeted expenditures. Any monies in excess of the unassigned general fund balance will be committed to the retirement reserve fund after funding the technology reserve fund in the amount of $2,500,000, and after the final payment for the Norbit Health Insurance Consortium for any deficit from the 2024-25 fiscal year.

Board action and context: the budget motion was presented as Item 11(a) and decided by a roll call vote. The board discussed neither amendments to the totals nor alternate tax scenarios during the recorded motion; members proceeded with a formal roll call and approval. The meeting record shows subsequent related approvals tied to the budget: adoption of reserve fund budgets for the retirement and technology reserves and approval of a homestead and farmstead exclusion resolution.

The board’s adoption of a $2.5 million technology reserve and the stated process for committing excess fund balance establish priorities for capital and operating stability in 2025-26. The minutes record that the district will include any required budgetary transfers from 2024-25 in the annual financial report following final audit.

Minor procedural notes: the board announced that tax bills will be printed by county and named officials and that distribution is planned for July 1, 2025. The transcript records the levies and some line items in the same phrasing used at the meeting; where the meeting transcript used nonstandard punctuation or spacing (for example in a readback of occupational assessment mills), the article quotes the recorded phrasing rather than reformatting numeric presentation.

Looking ahead: the district will implement the 2025-26 budget beginning July 1, 2025, and will report transfers and final audited figures in the annual financial report.