Metro

CRESSON — The Penn Cambria School Board voted 5-2 approving a proposed resolution to raise taxes to the state’s Act I Index of 5% for the 2026-27 fiscal year.

Board members Matthew Kearney and Anthony Dziabo were opposed to the increase. Board members Rudy McCarthy and Jeffrey Stohon were not present at Tuesday’s regular session meeting.

According to the meeting’s agenda, a tax increase of that size would set new millage rates for properties levied and assessed within the district as 72.04 mills in Cambria County and 9.82 mills in Blair County, where the district has properties in Tunnelhill Borough.

Raising taxes to those proposed rates would generate about $350,000 in revenue for the district, business administrator Jill Francisco said.

Based on the district’s average residential assessment, which is $11,433 in Cambria and $73,070 in Blair, property taxes would increase about $39 in Cambria and almost $20 in Blair, Francisco said.

That means, for a property situated within the district’s Cambria County range assessed at about $23,000, the proposed tax increase would raise a taxpayer’s bill by about $78, Francisco said, noting the amount would be reduced for residents who qualify for the Homestead-Farmstead tax relief exclusion.

The state provides the district with a list of properties that have been approved for the exclusion, and each property will see a reduction of about $234.85, Francisco said, noting the reduction is about the same amount of money as last year’s rate.

The board approved the Homestead-Farmstead tax assessment reduction amounts for the fiscal school year beginning July 1 during Tuesday’s meeting.

In a separate resolution, the board voted 5-2 to adopt the proposed final budget for the 2026-27 school year, which Francisco said has revenues listed at just over $30 million and expenditures totaling $34,585,448. Kearney and Dziabo were the only members present who voted against adopting the proposed budget.

On paper, it looks like the district is facing a $4.5 million deficit, which Francisco said during April’s committee of the whole meeting was due to two major projects — a stadium renovation project totaling more than $2 million and a list of capital improvements for the district’s elementary school project totaling about $1.7 million.

Without those projects, the district’s actual deficit would be about $800,000, school officials said, noting the district has built its general fund savings — a committed fund balance for capital improvements — for the specific purpose of covering the school renovations.

Essentially, the district is planning to use money saved over a period of time for that purpose, and the revenue that would be received from the proposed tax increase — roughly $350,000 — would go toward the needed capital improvements and not the stadium renovation project, Francisco explained.

“We had that (committed fund balance) set aside for renovations and now we’re just using it,” she said.

For the stadium renovation project, the district has raised more than $1 million in pledged community donations, Superintendent Jamie Hartline said. But since the money has only been pledged, it can’t be shown as revenue, making the deficit appear larger than it actually is, he said.

The school board’s vote Tuesday to approve the proposed final budget is only to advertise the budget for public inspection, meaning both the budget and the tax increase are preliminary and not finalized.

A final budget will be adopted in June, likely at the school board’s June 16 meeting, although state requirements give school officials until June 30 to pass a final budget.

In other business during Tuesday’s meeting, the board approved a donation of stadium lights from Bob Biter Electrical Enterprises Inc. at an estimated fair market value of about $200,000, to be effective on the date received.

Board members Anthony Tomaselli and Michael Sheehan publicly thanked the list of people, businesses and anonymous donors who have given to the district so far.

The board approved entering into an agreement with AstroTurf Corp. for a survey, design and construction drawings for the high school stadium and athletic field at a total cost of $30,000. Hartline stressed that funding will come from the district’s donated funds and will have no impact on the district’s final budget or the proposed tax increase.

Mirror Staff Writer Matt Churella is at 814-946-7520.