Budget Presentation For School Board Available Online

Tonight's Southern Lehigh School Board meeting will include several presentations, including one from the Budget and Finance Committee about possible tax increases and corollary budget cuts. 

The presentation comes after theabout how to best approach the financial straits faced by most Pennsylvania schools. 

"Our problem is that PSERS [Public School Employees' Retirement System] has grown at an exponential rate," said committee chair Corinne Gunkle at the Jan. 16 2012 committee meeting about the statewide employee pension fund. The presentation shows a 394% increase in PSERS payments from 2007 to 2017.

Buffered by the schools the Budget and Finance committee's presentation shows a plan to lower the fund from its current balance of over 20% (of the district's operating costs) to 8% by 2017. 

In order to gradually reduce the fund balance, the committee is recommending three options for a combination of tax increases and budget cuts. The size of the tax increase will dictate the amount of budget cuts needed to keep the district afloat. 

The documents made available to the public before the meeting sketch out possible options for cuts to go along with the different tax options. 

• If the board votes for no tax increase, they will need to vote for approximately $1.35 million in cuts this year, for a total of $7.9 million over the next five years
• If the board votes for a mid-level tax increase (this year equaling $47 per household), they will need to vote for approximately $.68 million in cuts this year, for a total of $5.2 million over the next five years
• If the board votes for the Act 1 limits on tax increases (this year equaling $70 per household), they will need to vote for approximately $.15 million in cuts this year, for a total of $3.1 million over the next five years

Both the mid-level and Act one tax limits vary year-to-year,

Along with documentation about each cut, the committee is presenting a list of potential cuts, each with a scaled rating (zero to three) of impact on the district. Potential cuts with no or a low impact include moving the district to a Voice over IP (VOIP) phone system, and using a floor cleaning robot to reduce shifts and increase savings as custodial staff retire. Higher impact cuts could include reducing buses for subdivisions near the HS/MS/IS area, making sports "pay to play" in high school, and reassigning Lower Milford to a Kindergarten or closing the facility. 

The message the committee wants to send is clear, said committee member Dr Elizabeth Stelts at the Feb. 8 2012 meeting. "If board members want to vote for no tax increase, fine. But then they have to understand what our district is going to look like without busing, sports, music, and Advanced Placement courses. They will have to answer for their choice."

To temper discussion about nationwide economic growth as a buffer to not increase taxes, the committee is including a slide to show the United States economy would need to grow between 3 and 6 percent annually over the next five years to not raise taxes or cut the budget.

The school board meets at 7:30pm at