At the May 19 Whitehall-Coplay School Board meeting, a new property tax increase percentage was proposed.

Board President William Fonzone Sr. suggested lowering the proposed increase to 4.6% instead of 5.3% and asked that the new number be put on the docket for the meeting June 9. No other school board members objected to this new percentage.

Board Treasurer George Williams said the percentage can still be adjusted before the 2025-26 budget is finalized for approval. The final budget approval is expected at the 4 p.m. June 9 meeting.

During the school board’s committee meetings May 12, the board heard a presentation about the 2025-26 budget, which, again, has the option to be changed before June 9.

Several residents spoke at the May 19 meeting to the school board members, pleading for a decrease in the proposed property tax percentage.

“Get that budget down. We need to do this. The people in this community, they’re hurting — everybody — and you can’t have these people lose their homes,” LoriAnn Fehnel said.

At the May 12 meeting, it was mentioned changes from the earlier proposed budget is that one additional teacher and security guard are being added to the list of employees. With that comes an addition of $178,354 in salaries and benefits.

From the initial proposed budget, there have also been some decreases, as of the May 12 meeting, which include special education, $500,000; technology, $250,000; maintenance (equipment), $391,000; transportation (fuel), $80,000; and transportation (vehicles), $750,000.

The budget will also see other changes, like a $1,792,646 difference from the budget presented April 28 to May 12. This change takes expenditures from $103,244,433 to $101,451,787.

Revenue remained at $96,335,204. Shortfall saw a $1,792,646 difference, going from $6,909,229 to $5,116,5823. Use of fund balance saw a $1,792,414 difference, going from $4,236,579 to $2,444,165.

The tax increase saw a $232 difference, going from $2,672,650 to $2,672,418.

As of the May 12 meeting, the tax increase was at 5.3%, with expenditures at $101,451,757 and revenue at $96,335,204.

As of May 19, a 4.6% increase was added to the table.

The final budget is expected to be approved at the June 9 special board meeting, ahead of the June 30 deadline set by the state, followed by committee meetings. The regular board meeting is 7 p.m. June 23.

You can find more on Whitehall-Coplay School District’s final budget at tinyurl.com/3saz9uyz.