SFASD 2011-12 budget to debut tonight

Just before Thanksgiving, when Spring-Ford school district business manager Tim Anspach was briefing the school board on the "economic challenges" the district faced as it assembled its budget for the 2011-12 school year, he referred to a "new fiscal reality" that would "significantly impact next year's budget."

Tonight, the public will get its first look at precisely what Anspach meant.  A preliminary version of the 2011-12 budget will be presented at the school board's work session, which begins at 7:30 p.m. in the high school cafeteria.

Anspach's presentation in November detailed the district's shrinking revenue from the loss of federal and state stimulus funds, as well as declines in tax revenue related to the sluggish real estate market. Unless new revenue sources are revealed tonight, it seems likely that to preserve the current level of services, the school district will have to raise taxes.  Its ability to do that, however, is restricted by Pennsylvania Act 1 of 2006, which caps real estate tax increases for 2011-12 at 1.4 percent. The district can apply for exceptions that allow it to exceed this cap.

The 2010-11 budget came in at $125.5 million, a $4.6 million increase over 2009-10 that translated into a 2 percent tax increase for district property owners.