Metro

CLAYSBURG — Members of the Claysburg-Kimmel School Board voted 5-4 Tuesday in favor of raising taxes to offset the district’s $744,000 deficit for the 2026-27 school year.

Board President Jeremy Knott, along with Mandi Daugherty, Roger Knisely, Joseph Musselman and Tony Soler voted in favor of the tax increase, while Vice President Amy Claar-Gill, Mona Eckley, Heidi Kennedy and Danny Potter were opposed.

The increase to the Act 1 Index of 5.1% will bring in $191,506, increasing the millage rate in Kimmel Township, Bedford County, to 12.78 and the rate in Greenfield Township, Blair County, to 10.45.

Because the district uses multi-county balancing for tax distribution, the millage rates can be deceiving because the state tax equalization board is used to create the same tax burden for both townships.

During Tuesday’s special meeting, Daugherty said the tax increase equates to about $6.66 per month for the average household in the district, or about $70 to $80 per year.

The board previously voted 5-2 to approve the final budget for the 2026-27 school year, but they didn’t have enough votes to pass the tax increase during the June 17 meeting because two board members were absent.

The board voted 4-3 for a tax increase during last week’s meeting, but needed a minimum of five to pass the resolution.

“I think it speaks volumes to the difficulty in that decision that we might have had a majority of the folks that were here, but you still need a majority of the entirety of the board … and we didn’t get five,” Knott said.

Musselman — who was absent for the June 17 meeting — said the district has money stored in the general fund balance, but there are several repairs needed in the district.

“The only way the school funds itself is through the representation of the community and the state in the whole,” he said.

Kennedy said she was opposed to the increase because she wanted to see more tax options rather than just raising them to the full index.

Knott said those numbers were presented to the board and they voted on raising it to the limit last month. The preliminary budget showed the district’s expenditures and the tax increase of 5.1%.

“I think it’s very clear — and I believe that I asked numerous times — if there was any unclarity there because I didn’t want to be in this position,” Knott said, adding that the board only has until June 30 to submit the 2026-27 final budget.

“It’s not that it wasn’t clear, but if I’m the only one that felt that I only wanted to go to a half. I’m only one of nine,” Kennedy said.

According to the state average, Musselman said that local communities support 50% of their district’s budget, but the local community only supports 27% of Claysburg-Kimmel’s budget.

The last time the board raised taxes to the index was two years ago, according to Eckley, who was also absent during the June 17 meeting.

She said raising taxes isn’t a hardship to some, but it’s a hardship for many.

“A lot of people are older now, and social security doesn’t count for much,” she said, adding that the district had a surplus last year.

Musselman said part of that surplus is because the administrative team sought out grants.

Knisely said that a tax increase of $1 would still upset some residents, so it doesn’t matter what the board does because people will still complain.

“We’ve got to keep the school open,” he said. “It’s not helping if the school’s not here.”

The board also voted again to approve the general fund budget for the 2026-27 school year, with Claar-Gill and Potter being the only dissenting votes in the 7-2 decision.

After the roll call vote to adopt a tax increase, Knott said he believed that a healthy board can experience disagreements.

“I think having people say no to this is a good thing as well,” he said. “People are willing to challenge it. People are willing to ask questions. People are willing to disagree. And that’s a good thing.”

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