Tax Hike Looms As T/E School Board OKs Preliminary Budget

The Tredyffrin/Easttown School District Board of School Directors has taken another step with its 2017-2018 budget by adopting a preliminary budget that contains tax hikes to close a roughly $5.36 million projected deficit.

The board voted unanimously to adopt the preliminary budget at it's Jan. 23 meeting. The state requires districts that are applying for Act 1 exceptions, which the district is attempting to do.

The district is seeking to increase taxes by 2.5 percent per the Act 1 index and also is seeking to raise taxes by an additional .935 percent through Act 1 referendum exceptions.

The district raised property taxes for the 2016-2017 budget by 3.6 percent in attempts to close a then-projected $4.7 million deficit.

The board will further mull the budget at its upcoming finance committee meeting on Feb. 14 and will also hold budget workshops on March 13 and April 17 at 7:30 p.m. at Conestoga High School.

"The T/E School Board and administration will continue to work towards balancing the budget and determining a final tax rate between now and final budget approval in June 2017," the district said. "The T/E School Board encourages public participation during the budget development process and endeavors to reflect the input of joint stakeholders. All School Board committee meetings are open to the public and have public comment periods."

Board meetings are held at Conestoga High School, 200 Irish Road, Berwyn.

Visit the Tredyffrin/Easttown School District website to see meeting dates and agendas.

Public comments may be submitted to district Business Manager Arthur J. McDonnell at mcdonnella@tesd.net or to the T/E School Board at schoolboard@tesd.net.

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