State Deadline Passes Without New Centennial School Budget

WARMINSTER, PA — The Centennial School Board has a special meeting planned on Wednesday night to try and adopt its final 2025-2026 school budget, just days after a state deadline has passed.

The school board held several meetings last month, including one last week, to meet the deadline for school districts throughout the Commonwealth to adopt their budgets for the 2025-2026 school year.

With a nearly $6 million deficit, school board members are struggling to finalize the budget, fearing a tax hike for residents in Warminster and Upper Southampton townships.

"We can't get a budget. I've never seen anything like this in my 18 years on the school board," School Director Jane Lynch told Patch on Tuesday. "This is irresponsible to the taxpayers for us to be passing budgets with large deficits."

The special meeting is planned for 7 p.m. Wednesday at the school district's administrative building on Jacksonville Road.

Lynch said the school board needs five votes to approve the budget and may need state intervention to get it done.

"We could be in default with the state," Lynch said. "The state could step in or we could go to Bucks County court. I want to go to court and go before a judge to force us into getting a budget."

Patch reached out to several other school board members seeking a response without the budget.

The proposed budget included a 4 percent tax increase for the general fund, the highest a school district can pass under the state's Act 1 index.

If approved, residents with an average home assessment in Warminster and Upper Southampton townships would pay a $144 annual tax increase.

Lynch said that while some school board members have stated that a tax hike might only cost residents an extra $10 to $20 a month, but "things have gone up in the average home."

Last year, the school board approved a 4.3 percent tax increase. The Act 1 index, though, was 5.3 percent.

"The more you keep taking money out of the reserve fund, it affects the bond rating," Lynch said. "It's the deficit. How long can Centennial last with so much spending and no cuts."