The proposed final budget for the 2026-27 school year in Northampton Area School District was adopted by a vote of 5-4 by the board of education at its May 11 meeting.

The proposed final budget has a general fund of $149,233,848, supported by a rate of 60.97 mills. The rate of 60.97 mills is a 2.45-mill increase from 58.52 mills, for an increase of 4.2%, from the budget for the 2025-26 school year in NASD.

Based on the NASD median assessed homestead of $61,100, the property tax bill for the 2026-27 school year would be $3,725.27. With the NASD homestead deduction of $198.65, the net tax bill would be $3,526.62, a net increase of $149.45 annually.

The proposed final budget retains $270,000 in annual funding for the Northampton Area Public Library.

NASD Superintendent of Schools Joseph S. Kovalchik and NASD Business Administrator Craig Neiman made the 2026-27 proposed final budget presentation.

Voting “yes” for the NASD 2026-27 proposed final budget presentation were school board President John Becker, board Vice President David Gogel and school Directors Dr. Michael Baird, Ross Makary and Fran Shehab.

Voting “no” were school Directors Joshua Harris, Zachary Kromer, Jamie Marchiano and Kristin Soldridge.

“We all wish [the budget] wouldn’t contain a tax increase. Joe (Kovalchik) cut 30 positions without laying anyone off,” Becker said after the two-hour school board meeting. “I’m retired. Dr. Baird is retired. We pay taxes here. I have three grandchildren attending schools in the district, two at Lehigh Elementary School and one at Northampton Area Middle School.”

“I’m not happy that we have a tax increase,” Kovalchik said after the board meeting. “But we were able to cut $5.2 million from the budget and not have any furloughs nor reduce programming or have to end any extracurriculars.”

The vote includes authorizing the NASD administration to advertise and make the proposed budget available for public inspection for at least 30 days before the board makes its final vote. A copy of the budget will be available at the NASD administration building, 2014 Laubach Ave., and on the NASD website at nasdschools.org.

The budget could be modified before its expected final adoption at the 6:30 p.m. June 15 school board meeting in the Northampton Area High School auditorium, 1619 Laubach Ave.

Commonwealth law requires public school boards to finalize district budgets by June 30.

The 2026-27 preliminary budget, with a deficit of $12.7 million deficit based on expenditures of $154.8 million and revenue of $142.1 million, was presented at the Jan. 12 board meeting. The deficit had been reduced to $9.3 million, according to a school board budget presentation March 9.

School directors at the April 13 board meeting favored overall cuts and adjustments that reduced the 2026-27 proposed budget deficit to $2.8 million. The proposed final budget would use $2.8 million from the district fund balance to help balance the budget.

The tax increase of 4.2% would generate $3,454,000 for the proposed final budget.

Before the vote on the proposed final budget, a motion for the district to decrease funding for Northampton Area Public Library was not approved by a vote of 5-4.

Marchiano made the motion, seconded by Kromer, to reduce the public library funding by $135,000, a 50% reduction. Marchiano made the motion and cast her votes by phone.

Voting not to reduce library funding were Becker, Gogel, Baird, Makary and Shehab. Shehab is the school board representative on the public library board.

Voting “yes” to cut library funding were Marchiano, Kromer, Harris and Soldridge.

After the library funding vote, Kromer said, “All four of my children use the (public) library. The library does a good job. They do good down there. We (NASD) just don’t have the money.”

In his presentation, Neiman said district bond interest earnings would add $1.2 million in budget revenue.

The $2.8 million use of the fund balance would draw down the estimated fund balance of $18.2 million as of June 30 to $15.4 million as of June 30, 2027.

The NASD school board facilities committee is next scheduled to meet 6 p.m. May 18 in the conference room of the NAHS library.