Parkland School board granted final approval to the $172.3 million, 2017-18 budget at the June 27 meeting.

Business Manager John Vignone commented on the process.

“We’ve been talking about this for 11 and a half months,” Vignone said. “We strategized and planned not only for next year but down the road.”

Superintendent Richard Sniscak also commented.

“We strive to provide our residents with an exceptional school system,” Sniscak said.

“This board and administration are highly sensitive to raising taxes and the impact on the community.

“We still have the lowest real estate rate in Lehigh County at 15.13 mills.”

The document includes a $6 million appropriation from the fund balance which helps to equate revenues and expenditures.

“We’re thankful we have it,” Vignone said.

“Without it we’d be in a weaker position.”

He explained the district saved $800,000 in 2016-17 and another $800,000 in 2017-18 from bond refunding.

“The amount will be applied to debt service to avoid spikes for the next two years,” Vignone said. “This will help with borrowing for the new school. It will create less of an increase in debt service,” noted Vignone.

The superintendent said the 2016-17 budget of $166.1 million required a 3.48-percent tax increase, while in 2017-18 it would be 1.89 percent.

Sniscak pointed out challenges impacting the budget include increasing costs of special education, cyber and charter school payments, and the Pennsylvania Public School Employees Retirement System.

Board member Barry Long commented.

“Because of leadership in our business community, people want to live in this area, and businesses flourish,” helping us have a lower tax rate,” Long said.

Sniscak provided final comments on the matter.

“Parkland School District’s 2017-18 financial plan provides for the most essential educational needs of our students while respectfully considering the ability of the taxpaying public to support a high quality, comprehensive educational program,” Sniscak said.

At a previous meeting Vignone reported the 2017-18 district real estate assessment will be $7.93 billion, a $124.7 million or 1.60 percent, increase over the present school year.

At the 15.13 mill rate of taxation, the owner of a property with the average residential assessed value of $226.595 will pay $3,428.38 to the district, an increase of $63.44 over the previous term.

Vignone noted the $172.3 million budget receives 70 percent of its revenue from property tax, 15 percent from other local sources such as Earned Income Tax, about 13 percent from the commonwealth, and the remaining amount, about 2 percent, from the federal government.

He said the state legislature’s proposal to eliminate property tax as a source of school funding would have an adverse effect on Parkland and its education programs.

Vignone said a major factor in previous budgets was the rising cost of health insurance for employees.

However, with Parkland’s participation in the Lehigh County schools’ health care consortium, there is no increase this year.

“The average health insurance increase nationwide is 8 percent to 12 percent. We’re at zero.

“We have a new front-runner in expenditures,” Vignone said.

“Cyber and charter schools are our biggest worry now.”

He anticipates a $3.6- million expenditure toward cyber and charter schools in 2017-18, an $800,000 increase over the previous term.

This amount does not include transportation which is a significant expense.

Vignone noted budget planning for 2017-18 began last August.

“We had transparency of all processes,” Vignone said. “We’re in the business of education and providing resources for education.”