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Avon Grove administration proposes $126.7M budget with 3.5% tax increase; PCA and charter tuition drive costs
Summary
Administration presented a proposed final 2026–27 budget totaling $126,656,073, recommending a 3.5% tax increase and $6.5 million use of fund balance; administration identified PCAs (paraprofessional aides) and charter tuition as the main cost drivers and said continued negotiations could alter transportation estimates.
Administration presented a proposed final general fund budget for 2026–27 that would total $126,656,073 and recommended a 3.5% tax increase to help close a structural gap.
The administration (speaker 13) said the draft reduces the previous tax recommendation from 4% to 3.5% after revenue and expense adjustments and plans to use about $6.5 million in fund balance next year. “We decreased our tax millage recommendation from 4% down to 3 and a half percent,” the administration reported; the slides presented showed an estimated ending fund balance of roughly $17.7 million across funds if the budget is adopted at that rate.
Officials highlighted the budget’s major cost drivers: increases in regular and special education (including contracted PCA — paraprofessional — services), charter and cyber‑charter tuition, transportation and utilities. The administration said available options to contain costs include reexamining the PCA deployment model (floater PCAs and assignment practices), improving in‑district programming to reduce charter placements, and pursuing cooperative purchasing savings from the Chester County Intermediate Unit (CCIU).
Representatives from the Chester County Intermediate Unit (CCIU) joined the meeting and provided context: Dr. George Fiore and Joe Lubitzky presented CCIU figures and emphasized cooperative purchasing and marketplace services that benefit member districts. Lubitzky noted the IU’s core budget is approximately $50.2 million and marketplace services represent a much larger portfolio (~$291 million) that member districts may use to control costs.
Administration staff said final staffing, Homestead/Farmstead allocations and transportation negotiations remain outstanding and will be updated in May and June as the board moves toward formal proposed final and final budget votes.
