ROARING SPRING — The Spring Cove School District is facing a projected budget shortfall of just over $2 million for the 2026-27 school year, according to a preliminary presentation during Tuesday’s board meeting.

Business manager Steven Foor said the district is estimated to have $34,434,945 in expenditures, as opposed to $32,409,826 in revenue.

Projected expenditures increased by 2.55% from last year’s budget, while revenue jumped by 7.18%, due in large part to the state passing its budget with an increase in public school funding.

Since federal funding is up in the air until Washington passes its final budget and districts are required to approve their budgets by June 30, Foor applied the same amount the district was awarded for the 2025-26 school year to the preliminary budget.

Some of the increases in expenditures are rising mandated costs, cyber charter totals and health care rates, which are expected to increase by 15%.

When asked by board member Alyssa McGregor, Foor recommended a tax increase to help close the deficit.

“Are we going to be in a really hard spot if we don’t increase taxes?” McGregor said.

Considering unknown future expenditures, he said, “most likely. There might be cuts to programs and things like that.”

“I think the trend is going to be back where we were, where it’s going to be no state funding, a lot of reliance on the local level,” he said.

Foor displayed a taxpayer impact spreadsheet during his presentation, showing that a 0.5% tax increase would raise monthly rates by $0.70, and a 4.8% increase would raise monthly rates by $6.68.

The board voted in November 2025 not to raise taxes above the Act 1 Index — which is at 4.8% — for the 2026-27 school year.

McGregor said a 0.5% increase adds up to a $8.35 yearly increase, the price of a cup of coffee.

To continue operations as normal, without saving money for future business projects, Foor recommended a 3% increase.

Superintendent Betsy Baker said raising taxes by 1% each year can help the district put away funds without a big increase at one time.

“What we’ve been seeing is, we’re getting zeros … Now you have to do a jump to make that up,” she said.

If the district raises taxes by 0.5% each year, she said the change isn’t noticeable, but the consistent raises will benefit future building projects, such as eventually consolidating their middle and high schools and maintaining aging facilities.

It’s a tough financial time, board member Troy Wright said, mentioning that bills and grocery prices are going up. For example, he said Netflix subscription prices increased, and he paid for it to continue using the streaming platform.

“What can I justify myself and say, ‘I understand things are going up, what am I willing to pay more of,'” he said.

Looking at a 3.5% tax increase, he said the price averages about $5 a month.

“Where is that balance of, ‘hey, our electricity went up here, too, and our water bill went up, too,'” he said. “We’re not immune to inflation.”

He then asked the board where the line lies with increasing taxes and by how much.

“We’re not being wasteful, we’re not trying to take as much as we can, but yet, we have to survive,” he said.

A tax discussion will be included in the next meeting scheduled for April 13.

Mirror Staff Writer Colette Costlow is at 814-946-7414.