$132M Preliminary Hatboro-Horsham School Budget Approved

HATBORO / HORSHAM TOWNSHIP, PA —The Hatboro-Horsham School Board has approved a $132,290,243 school budget for the 2024-2025 school year.

The school board voted unanimously on Monday night for the budget, which now includes a 4.19 percent tax increase needed to address a $3.4 million deficit and balance the budget, school officials said.

A final budget is expected to come up for a vote at the school board's June 17 meeting. The final budget will be presented on June 3.

The Act 1 index is 5.3 percent, which is the percentage that the district can increase taxes by without taking the issue to residents via a referendum.

The index is at its highest point since it began in 2007-2008.

School officials said at the meeting that when the numbers are finalized, the tax increase will continue to be well under that Act 1 index and possibly less than the 4.19 percent increase it is facing now.

Last year's tax hike was the highest in 15 years, the highest since the 2008-2009 school year, according to figures provided by the school district.

For the 2007-2008 school year, the tax increase was 3.09 percent, followed by 3.21 percent for the 2008-2009 school budget.

For the most part, the school district has kept tax hikes lower between 2009-2010 and 2022-2023 when the Act 1 index relatively ranged over the years around 2.4 percent with four years of it dropping to under 2 percent.

The 2023-2024 budget provides funding for the new middle school with a debt service budget increase to $8.4 million and offset by strategic debt service reserves.