Trending
HOLLIDAYSBURG -- The Hollidaysburg Area School Board approved its proposed budget without a tax increase for the 2023-24 school year by a 6-2 vote Wednesday, despite an estimated deficit of more than $3 million.
Board members Carmen Bilek and Jennifer Costanza were the only dissenting voices, with Costanza saying the proposal is "not even close" to being balanced. Doug Stephens, Ronald Sommer, Nicole Hartman, Lonna Frye, Scott Brenneman and Manny Nichols all voted in favor of adopting the proposal. Kenneth Snyder was not present at the meeting.
The district is estimating expenditures totaling $56,319,864 and revenue of $53,206,818. That difference would be covered by the unassigned funds the district has saved, but those savings will be almost cut in half if the proposed deficit is absorbed.
When asked why she opposed the proposed budget, Costanza said the board was given a similar budget last school year with a similar deficit and "didn't see much of a change" from year to year.
"It's a lot to take in," Costanza said.
She said the order of the proceedings at the meeting was also strange, as the board voted on approving the proposal before the discussion session. Costanza said she felt unprepared to make an educated vote on the budget when she had only surveyed the numbers on her own without any explanation or breakdown.
"We voted on something that wasn't even presented to us," Costanza said, adding that if the order had been reversed, she might have voted differently.
The biggest blow to the district next school year is the dwindling ESSER funds from the American Rescue Plan that was adopted during the COVID-19 pandemic. In the 2020-21 and 2021-22 academic years, the district was able to come much closer to balancing, if not surpassing, its expenditures with the help of the ESSER funds.
Those monies are no longer coming into the district, so the leftovers from the previous years' allotments will likely be spread out for future projects, according to HASD business manager Autumn Fiscus.
Charter tuition and pension costs have been major factors in driving the district's expenses up, accounting for more than 60% of the total expenditure increase over the past 10 years. The district also has not recovered from a drop in enrollment since the pandemic, with many families deciding not to leave their cyber academies, according to Superintendent Robert Gildea.
Another primary factor in the growing deficit is the major difference in state funding for Hollidaysburg compared to other districts across the state. Among the 34 member districts of Appalachia Intermediate Unit 8, Hollidaysburg ranks 32nd in terms of monies received from the state. In 2021, HASD received $6,608 per student, while the average across IU8 districts is over $10,300. State funding accounted for just 30.67% of the district's revenue in 2021, compared to an average of 57.03% for IU8 districts -- making it 33rd out of 34.
"You take that (difference) times 3,000 students, we have no problem -- that's $11 million," Sommer said. "That's how much we are underfunded by the state."
The state is currently in its budget negotiation stage, with Gov. Josh Shapiro's current proposal for Hollidaysburg next school year at just under $4 million for basic education, according to Gildea.
Fiscus said she did not include the maximum amount in the proposal since the numbers could change or drop by the time the budget is accepted.
"We can't count on that until it happens," Gildea said.
Gildea said the state doesn't take into account how efficiently a district is run when it distributes funds, so Hollidaysburg is penalized for not raising property taxes and for the affluence of its community compared to others across the state. That is why it doesn't receive closer to the average.
As for potential solutions for the deficit, the district can either cut programs/positions or increase taxes up to the Act 1 index, which sits at 5%. According to the district's presentation, the maximum increase would be 0.4775 mills, for a new rate of 10.0280 mills. For the average residence with a value of just over $162,000, that would equal a roughly $77 increase annually.
With that tax increase, the district could generate over $1.4 million toward the deficit, still leaving a $1.7 million shortfall.
The board will continue to meet over the next several weeks to discuss potential changes to the budget. It is now available for public viewing and comments by calling the office or visiting the district website. The board reconvenes May 17.
Mirror Staff Writer Nate Powles is at 814-946-7466.