School Board Approves Proposed 2012-2013 Budget

With a 7-2 vote, the Centennial School Board accepted the proposed 2012-2013 budget Tuesday night during it's regular meeting. As of now, the projections include a deficit that stands at $766,192.

District business administrator Chris Berdnik has until June 12 to make up the difference before the school board approves the budget's final adoption.

Berdnik originally calculated the deficit at $4 million, but items such as the sale of , and Elementary Schools, the elimination of 24 full time staff positions and minor spending cuts in every department have whittled the number down. The started at more than $100 million in expenditures and is now down to $98 million.

The proposed budget also includes a 1.7 percent tax hike, in accordance with the Act 1 index. The raise translates to an increase of 1.93 mills, or an average of approximately $51 per household, Berdnik said.  A mill equals a dollar tax on every $1,000 of assessed property value. The tax increase adds approxiately $1 million to the revenues.

A discussion at the meeting about the proposed elementary school bell schedule brought up the possibility of purchasing more buses, in order to have all three elementary schools dismiss at the same time.

Berdnik will not factor in the estimated $1.2 million cost until the matter has been analyzed at the May 21 finance committee hearing and voted on at the May 22 school board meeting.