It took two tries, but the 2026-27 Northampton Area School District general fund budget adoption and tax levy have been approved.

The second vote to adopt the final budget by the NASD Board of Education came after the district annual contribution to Northampton Area Public Library was slashed twice during a nearly four-hour June 15 meeting attended by dozens of residents.

More than 12 residents spoke opposing a proposed busing plan. The new transportation hub format was pulled from the agenda by NASD Superintendent of Schools Joseph S. Kovalchik for further study.

The school board’s first vote to approve the 2026-27 final budget failed. An additional board meeting was considered to meet the June 30 budget approval deadline.

The first vote on the final budget approval at 9:15 p.m. was defeated 5-4.

Voting not to approve the budget were school Directors Joshua Harris, Zachary Kromer, Jamie Marchiano, Kristin Soldridge and Dr. Michael Baird. Voting to approve the budget were school board President James Becker, Vice President David Gogel and school Directors Ross Makary and Fran Shehab.

The vote not to approve the budget happened after a vote to cut the annual $270,000 district funding of Northampton Area Public Library.

“The finance committee has recommended to cut Northampton Public Library funding,” said Marchiano, who made a motion to end the annual district funding of NAPL. Harris seconded the motion.

Marchiano, Harris and Soldridge are on the finance committee. They voted 3-0 at the June 4 finance committee meeting to recommend to the school board to end funding of NAPL.

The vote to end NAPL funding was defeated 6-3 at 8:53 p.m. during the June 15 meeting. Voting to continue NAPL funding were Becker, Gogel, Makary, Shehab, Kromer and Baird. Voting to end the NAPL funding were Marchiano, Harris and Soldridge.

After the first vote to end NAPL funding, a vote to reduce district funding to NAPL by $80,000 in the 2026-27 budget, from $270,000 to $190,000, was approved by a 7-2 vote. Voting to reduce NAPL funding were Marchiano, Harris, Soldridge, Shehab, Kromer, Baird and Gogel. Voting not to reduce NAPL funding were Becker and Makary.

Gogel made a motion, seconded by Soldridge, to reduce the proposed tax increase for 2026-27 from 4.2% to 3.7% by taking $500,000 from the general fund. The motion was defeated 8-1, with Gogel voting in favor.

The removal of $80,000 in NAPL funding reduced the 2026-27 budget from $149,233,848 to $149,153.848.

However, Soldridge made a motion to allocate $90,000 in 2026-27 district funding for NAPL, a reduction of $180,000 from the annual $270,000.

The vote was 5-4 to approve the $90,000 allocation to NAPL in the 2026-27 budget. Voting to approve the $90,000 allocation to NAPL were Marchiano, Harris, Soldridge, Kromer and Baird. Voting not to approve the $90,000 allocation to NAPL were Shehab, Gogel, Becker and Makary.

Prior to the vote on the proposed final budget at the May 11 school board meeting, a motion for the district to decrease NAPL funding by $135,000, a 50% reduction, was defeated by a 5-4 vote.

After the June 15 meeting, NAPL Director Veronica Laroche, who was at the meeting, was asked what impact the district funding cut would have.

“The impact would be that the library would cut hours, staff and programs,” Laroche said.

She was also asked if the funding cut would cause NAPL to close.

“We’re going to fight on to save it,” Laroche said.

The removal of $180,000 in NAPL funding reduces the 2026-27 budget from $149,233,848 to $149,053.848. School directors voted 8-1 to put the $180,000 in the district general fund.

After the second vote to reduce district annual funding of NAPL, a second vote to approve the 2026-27 budget was taken.

School directors voted 7-2 at 9:50 p.m. to approve the 2026-27 budget. Voting “no” were Harris and Gogel.

The impact of the budget on NASD property owners is unchanged from that of the preliminary final budget approved May 11.

The 2026-27 general fund budget is supported by a 4.2% increase to the real estate tax and the following tax levy: Act 511 Local Tax Enabling Act: per capita tax, $5; real estate transfer tax, 0.5%; earned income tax, 0.7%, and per Section 670 Pennsylvania School Code: per capita tax $5; and real estate tax, 60.97 mills.

The 60.97 mills is a 2.45-mill increase from 58.52 mills, for an increase of 4.2%, from the 2025-26 budget.

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

The school board voted to pass a balanced budget.

“We cut $5 million and 30 positions,” Kovalchik said before the June 15 budget votes.

The 6 p.m. June 22 facilities committee meeting was canceled. The finance committee does not meet in July and next meets 6 p m. Aug. 6 in the Northampton Area High School library conference room.

The NASD school board will next meet 6:30 p.m. July 20 in the NAHS auditorium.