The proposed increase in Pennsylvania Department of Education funding for the Northampton Area School District 2017-18 budget is expected to be a lot less than touted, the NASD Board of Education has learned.

Meanwhile, the whole matter of school funding hangs in the balance of state House and Senate Bill 76, which would end the local property tax that school districts depend on for the bulk of their annual budgets.

While NASD in 2017-18 stands to receive $211,000 more for basic education and $75,000 more for special education funding, NASD Superintendent of Schools Joseph Kovalchik informed the board that PDE is reducing transportation reimbursements, which for NASD amounts to a reduction of $225,000 for a net gain of only about $60,000 in increased state annual funding.

“We’ll be very lucky to even see that,” Kovalchik said.

“That’s enough for a new truck for Bobby (Yanders),” Kovalchik quipped.

NASD Director of Operations Robert J. Yanders announced at the Feb. 27 board meeting that the maintenance department’s 1989 Ford 4x4 pickup truck has broken down.

“It’s on its second engine,” Yanders said.

The truck has a Reading utility service body for its pickup bed.

A 2017 Ford Super Duty F-250 4x4 - regular cab, 8-foot box XLT, regular unleaded, V-8, 6.2-liter engine - lists for $40,835, not including a toolbox addition for the pickup bed.

“We’re going to take that to Mr. Maranki’s car show,” Kovalchik joked about the district’s 28-year-old pickup, referring to school Director Roy Maranki, in charge of the annual Northampton Area Konkrete Kids Educational Foundation antique and collectible car show benefit.

Kovalchik used the example of the need for a new maintenance truck as one of the many unexpected costs that can arise in determining the district’s budget.

The NASD administration and school board face some tough decisions on the road to adopting the district’s 2017-18 budget, which must be approved by June 30.

Gov. Tom Wolf, in his 2017-18 state budget address, is proposing $125 million in increased PDE funding. For NASD, the proposed increase for 2017-18 of $211,000 in basic education is actually less than the $397,000 increase for basic education the district received for its 2016-17 budget. The proposed $75,000 more in special education for the 2017-18 district budget is more than the $56,000 increase in special education received from the PDE for the 2016-17 district budget.

The district received $2,994,581 in PDE reimbursement for transportation in the 2016-17 budget. That would be reduced by $225,000 in PDE transportation reimbursement in the 2017-18 district budget. NASD budgets about $6 million annually for school bus transportation.

Despite Wolf’s proposed stated education budget increases, which must be approved by the legislature, Kovalchik and NASD Business Administrator Terry Leh are “zero-funding” the amount the district is to receive from the state in the 2017-18 budget. They are using the funding amount received from the state for the 2016-17 budget and not including potential additional state funds.

Kovalchik said he and Leh would present budget updates to the board at the April school board meetings.

School directors voted Jan. 23 to unanimously approve the NASD 2017-18 preliminary budget, which calls for a 3.47-percent tax hike. Millage is to increase 1.78 mills, from 51.24 mills to 53.02 mills.

The school board also voted 9-0 to approve the administration to apply to the PDE for exceptions from the 2017-18 state-mandated index for NASD of a 3.1-percent tax increase ceiling.

This would allow the district to raise taxes more than 3.1 percent. The budget calls for a 3.47-percent tax hike.

“We want to get it below the index without reducing programming and staff, which is going to be very difficult to do,” Kovalchik said.

NASD expects to receive approximately 30 percent, or $30.7 million, of its 2017-18 budget from the state. About 65 percent, or $54 million, is funded by property taxes.

Senate Bill and House Bill 76 is projected to raise more than $11 billion. Under the bill, state personal income tax would increase from 3.07 percent to 4.34 percent, and the sales tax base would be expanded for more goods and services.

Under the Property Tax Independence Act, as Bill 76 is known, school districts would receive funding directly from the state, dollar for dollar, at the same level.

The bill is said to “completely eliminate” the taxing ability of local school boards. The exception would be a local EIT or personal income tax for new school construction, subject to a no-exception taxpayer referendum.

The proposal failed to pass by one vote in the state Senate in 2015. A similar bill failed in the state House in 2013.

Leh said he and NASD Board Vice President Chuck Frantz were assured in a Feb. 23 conference call with David Volkman, executive deputy secretary of the PDE, that if Bill 76 is passed, it would not go into effect July 1 and would not impact the 2017-18 district budget.

“There are so many ‘ifs.’ There are a lot of things that have to be discussed,” Frantz said of implementing an end to property tax.

“One of the biggest issues is the timing,” Leh said. “There’s no way that the state could implement this July 1. That’s not to say it won’t be implemented down the road.”