Saucon Valley preliminary budget shows roughly $9 million shortfall; board to prioritize cuts and projects
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Summary
Board heard that the district's preliminary budget currently shows about a $9 million deficit, driven by flat or falling assessed values, proposed capital projects and rising student placement and personnel costs; administration and the finance committee will return with options.
Board members spent a substantial portion of the meeting reviewing the finance committee report and the district's preliminary budget.
"We did our first review of the initial budget... the initial preliminary budget is $9,000,000 in the red this year," said Director Carpenter during the finance summary. Administration and finance committee members attributed the gap to several factors: a roughly 7% drop in assessed values that reduced local revenue, a projected list of capital projects totaling about $4.7 million, rising special-education placement and tuition costs, and increased personnel and benefits expenses. The administration noted that the previous year's budgets had used roughly $4.1 million from the fund balance to balance the books.
Board members debated the nature of the preliminary presentation. Finance committee members characterized the packet as an "all asks" budget that listed all requests from buildings and departments without managerial trimming, designed to show the full scope of potential spending. Some directors argued the administration should continue to prioritize and trim the list; others stressed the value of transparency in showing what was requested and what might be removed.
Directors discussed targeted capital items raised in the meeting, including stadium remediation for leaking, bus and van rotation, bleachers, playground replacement, and press box or press-related projects; facility costs and new staff (about 9–10 positions cited) were listed as substantial continuing expenditures. Several board members emphasized the difference between one‑time capital fixes and ongoing salary and benefit commitments, warning that new recurring positions would enlarge future budgets.
The board did not adopt a budget at the meeting. Finance committee members encouraged public participation in the finance committee and noted a PSBA budget-proposal webinar on Feb. 6. The administration and committee said they will return with prioritized options for reductions, choices on capital project timing, and specific proposals to close the gap before the budget adoption deadline.