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Penn Manor treasurer: 3.5% tax increase and state funding key to balanced 2026'27 budget
Summary
Treasurer Daniel Forry told the Committee of the Whole that using the governor's proposal and a 3.5% tax increase would largely balance the district's $122 million 2026'27 budget, but the plan depends on continued "Ready to Learn" increases and uncertain state timing.
Treasurer Daniel Forry told the Penn Manor School District Committee of the Whole on Feb. 17 that the district's baseline 2026'27 budget looks close to balanced under three assumptions: adoption of the governor's proposal, continuing a multiyear capital savings plan, and a 3.5% tax increase for 2026'27. "So, essentially, with these assumptions, the budget is basically balanced," Forry said, noting a $34,000 shortfall on a roughly $122 million budget.
Forry said the governor's proposal includes sizeable "Ready to Learn" increases that have totaled $2.7 million in each of the prior two years and which the governor proposed again for 2026'27. He warned the committee that much of the state's proposed revenue rests on sources that would not produce cash immediately (including legalization of recreational marijuana and taxes on games of chance) and that the timing of the state budget is uncertain. "The governor made a proposal where the revenues don't match the expenditures," he said.
The district's largest drivers of expenditure growth, Forry said, are salary and benefits, followed by student services (which he estimated could be $1.8 million to $2.0 million over budget this year), tuition (about a $500,000 increase), technology and infrastructure (about $500,000) and transportation (about $225,000, driven by contract costs). Under Forry's modeling, a 1% tax-rate change generates about $600,000 in additional revenue; his scenario uses 3.5% for 2026'27 and 3% for the two out years.
Board members pressed staff for more detail. One member asked that future budget presentations include the facility maintenance timeline, and another requested a breakout of professional service fees (audit, legal). Forry said he would provide more detailed slides in upcoming meetings and encouraged board direction on items they wanted covered in greater depth.
Next steps: staff will bring further budget slides and clarifying breakdowns in future meetings and present formal agenda items on March 2 as the board continues to refine assumptions and choices ahead of the 2026'27 budget adoption process.
