The Altoona Area School Board approved a preliminary 2021-22 general fund budget, but whether there will be a tax increase is still to be determined, according to Superintendent Charles Prijatelj.

Projected revenue for the upcoming year is $116.1 million, compared with this year’s $104.5 million. Next year’s expenditures are expected to be $116.8 million; this year’s expenditures are $110.2 million.

“The first thing is we have contractual increases,” Prijatelj said. “It’s an approximately 2% increase, $2.5 million to $3 million in contracts alone. Then you have increased transportation costs, special education costs and cyber charters are up $1.8 million. That’s what’s charged up the expenditures.”

Local and state revenue figures for the next school year are projected to be nearly identical to those of the current year. The biggest projected revenue change is about an $11 million increase in federal revenue.

“That’s all coming in as a result of COVID,” school district Community Relations Director Paula Foreman said of the increased federal funding.

Prijatelj expanded on that.

“That’s the CARES (Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security) the ARP (American Rescue Plan) and the ESSR (Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief) money, those three stimuluses,” Prijatelj said. “Those are designed to cover increased cyber costs and lost revenue for business privilege tax, mercantile tax, EIT (earned income tax) and real estate tax. We took a hit, to say the least,” he said referencing the pandemic’s financial effects on the district.

The deficit for the 2021-22 school year is projected to be about $700,000.

“Right now, our deficit is being covered with the ESSR and the ARP and the CARES money,” Prijatelj said. “Another thing is additional costs of summer school and expanded cyber costs internally to meet kids’ needs during the pandemic.”

In other matters Monday:

n The board approved the preliminary 2021-22 budget for the Greater Altoona Career & Technology Center in the amount of $11.1 million for the district.

n The board also approved an amendment to the 20/21 Comp Plan, increasing from $50 to $75 for each unused sick day in severance rates for those in the nonunion compensation plan.

The board is scheduled to approve the final general fund budget June 21.

Mirror Staff Writer Andrew Mollenauer is at 814-946-7428.