Based on a straw poll, a 7-2 majority on the board of education appears to favor the administration’s proposed 2.99-percent tax hike for the 2017-18 general fund budget for Northampton Area School District.

The informal poll of school directors was taken by NASD Business Administrator Terry Leh at the April 24 board meeting.

Stating they’d support a 2.99-percent increase in district property taxes for the next school year were school directors Dr. Michael Baird, John Becker, James Chuss, Chuck Longacre, Robert Ment- zell, Judy Odenwelder and Vice President Chuck Frantz.

Stating they’d support a 2.5-percent increase in district property taxes for the next school year were school directors Roy Maranki and President David Gogel.

The vote followed a 15-minute recap by NASD Superintendent of Schools Joseph Kovalchik of six tax hike budget options he and Leh presented at the April 10 meeting and a 25-minute discussion by Kovalchik, Leh and some of the school directors.

Regarding the 2.99- percent tax hike, “I feel we can start the new year (2017-18) maybe not where we want to be, but where we are comfortable,” Kovalchik told a reporter for The Press after the meeting.

Kovalchik said a vote on adoption of the proposed 2017-18 budget would be on the agenda of the 6:30 p.m. May 8 board meeting in the NASD administration building, 2014 Laubach Ave., Northampton.

If approved by the board May 8, the proposed budget would be available for public review for 30 days, per commonwealth law, on the district website, nasdschools.org, and at the administration building.

Kovalchik said he will ask the board for final budget approval at the June 12 meeting. School boards are required to approve district annual budgets by June 30 each year.

The tax hike options presented April 10 by Kovalchik and Leh were for tax hikes of 4.2 percent, 3.47 percent (proposed in the preliminary budget presented in January), 2.99 percent, 2.5 percent, 1.99 percent and 0.0 percent.

Of the preferred 2.99-percent hike, Kovalchik said after the school directors’ vote, “It doesn’t have to stay at that tax rate.”

After the meeting, Kovalchik said the 2.99-percent increase allows for hiring Izabela Pintarich, family consumer science teacher at Northampton Area High School, and Jennifer Heitzman-Baggitt, NASD speech and language pathologist, both approved at the April 10 meeting, and Daniele Bowman, special education teacher, Northampton Area Middle School, approved April 24.

The general fund budget, if approved, would include:

Hiring two elementary school teachers, if needed depending on fall 2017 incoming student enrollment

Facilities and custodians supervisor: $99,447

One support staff position (tax office): $55,750

Substitute teacher salaries increase: $55,477

Intermediate Unit 20 budget increase: $293,582

Public School Employee Retirement System (PSERS) increase of 32.04 percent to 32.57 percent: $103,874

Textbook reserves and replacements: $73,725

Remedial and instructional materials and supplies: $58,600

Elementary school field trips: $35,000

Pre-K programs: $40,000

Printers for Northampton Area High School classrooms: $53,502

Replacement computers for George Wolf Elementary School lab: $41,010

Skid steer loader: $37,300

Administration, secretary computers: $36,941

The 2.99-percent increase would increase millage by 1.53 mills from the 2016-17 millage of 51.24 mills to 52.77 mills for the 2017-18 district general fund budget.

That’s under the state-mandated 3.1-percent tax increase ceiling for the district’s 2017-18 budget.

The 2.99-percent tax hike would generate $1,648,066. That, plus the $3,604,294 from the district fund balance, would close a 2017-18 budget deficit of $5,252,360.

Based on the NASD 2016 average assessment of $58,094, which comprises 60 percent of district residences, the 2016-17 property tax bill would increase from $2,976.74 to $3,065.62, or $88.88 more annually, $7.41 more monthly and $1.71 more weekly.

The 2017-18 preliminary budget, first presented at the Jan. 9 school board meeting, has expenditures of $102,814,673 and revenues of $97,102,316. These figures may change when the proposed budget is updated May 8.

The school board voted Jan. 23 to approve the preliminary budget, as well the athletic fund, $212,034, and food service fund, $2,413,955.