BOYERTOWN — As the Boyertown Area School District prepares for the coming budget season, there’s good news for the incoming school board.
According to a recent presentation by finance director Patricia Denicola, initial figures indicate that the previous school year ended with a $1.3 million surplus.
During the Nov. 23 school board meeting, Denicola said expenses in the 2020-2021 school year, which ended June 30, came in at $152,465 under the budgeted amount of $124,856,841.
Even better, revenues were significantly higher coming in at $125,996,186, which is about $2.3 million more than the budget anticipated. The primary reason for the increased revenues was “higher-than-expected real estate tax collections,” she said.
When all is said and done, the district begins its budget with an additional $1,291,810 added to the budget fund balance.
“I think the year closed out pretty well, I’m encouraged by the revenue generation,” Denicola told the board.
She also told the school board that the state-imposed tax cap, known as the Act 1 index, has been set at 4.2 percent for Boyertown. That means, she said, that the 2022-2023 budget can raise real estate taxes by 4.2 percent without having to go to the voters for permission.
The next decision point for the board, she explained, comes on Jan. 27. If the board has adopted a resolution pledging not to exceed its index in the coming budget, the administration can continue to build the budget with more accurate, more recent estimates for costs like fuel and health insurance premiums.
If not, then a preliminary budget must be adopted by Feb. 16, she said.
From that point on, the administration and board committees will have many budget meetings in order to have a final proposed budget by May 31, and a final budget adopted by the state’s June 30 deadline.
Source: Berkshire mont
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