Fox Chapel Area School District schedules final vote on $123 million budget and $10 million bank‑qualified bond plan

The Fox Chapel Area School District board is scheduled to vote next week on the district’s final 2025–26 general fund operating budget and on paperwork that would allow the district to issue up to $10 million in bank‑qualified bonds to help pay for planned capital projects.

Business manager Kim Poloshak summarized the proposed final budget on May 19, saying the most recent figures show $120,709,693 in projected revenues and $123,187,421 in planned expenditures, producing a negative net change of $2,477,728 for the fiscal year. Poloshak told the board the shortfall would be addressed through drawdowns of the district’s fund balance.

Why it matters

The budget and the proposed bond both affect how and when the district pays for building work that the board has prioritized — including HVAC, water‑line work, stadium lights, and tennis courts — and they bear on future debt service and tax planning. Board members repeatedly framed the proposals as efforts to manage rising construction and benefits costs while avoiding large, sudden increases in property taxes.

What the board heard

PNC Capital Markets representative Alicia Henry presented one financing option the administration and advisers discussed with the district’s resource planning advisory committee: a bank‑qualified bond sale of $10,000,000 or less. Henry said bank‑qualified issues (a maximum $10 million per calendar year for most governments) give issuers a more favorable refinancing feature — five years of call protection in the example she…