The Saucon Valley School Board wasted little time at its May 10 meeting getting down to business in addressing one of its most challenging issues in months: working out the proposed 2022-23 final budget.

With the May 31 district deadline to adopt the budget rapidly approaching, Business Manager David Bonenberger has been warning of tough choices facing the board at its last few meetings, but this was the first time the issue was discussed at length.

Several board members recently ran for re-election boasting of their record of keeping Saucon Valley district millage rates the lowest in Northampton County for several years. According to county records of January 2022, property owners in Hellertown and Lower Saucon Township enjoy a rate of 53.43 mills, which is two mills lower than NorCo’s next cheapest district, Northampton.

Superintendent Jaime Vlasaty took the reins in presenting relevant figures - including a few adjustments – via a slideshow based upon images initially prepared and shared by Bonenberger at prior meetings.

The administration’s proposal would raise the district’s millage rate by 1.8166 - the maximum annual increase allowed by PA Act 1 - and bring the new rate to 55.2466 mills, which would still be the lowest in the county. The increase would raise approximately $1.1 million in additional revenue but still fall well short of covering the remaining $2.7 million shortfall.

Vlasaty said, “our expenditures have increased and our revenue has decreased” in the district recently, adding, “the recommendation of the administration is that we tax to the [PA Act 1] index and use the Fund Balance to cover the [remaining balance].”

Several board members made their reluctance to raise taxes clear from the beginning of the hour-long discussion. After asking a few clarifying questions, Shawn Welch said, “I have a problem with tax increases in general.” He proceeded to provide a (speculative) breakdown of the potential annual tax increases for residents in each of the district’s sending municipalities.

However, he then proceeded to bemoan “what’s going on financially out in the world,” sharing figures he prepared comparing current prices of items such as heating fuel, gasoline and other items to those in November 2020. Welch did not share his sources, although he further posed that a tax increase would “break faith with the community.”

Board Vice President Susan Baxter echoed Welch in so many words, saying that while she acknowledged that the proposal showed approximately $415,000 in “adjustments” from prior drafts shared by Bonenberger, she’d “like to see [the district] tighten our belts a little bit more before we go out and ask the public and taxpayers [for] a 3.4 percent increase.”

Baxter referred to expenditures on items such as a Jumbotron used for the high school’s outdoor graduation ceremony. She also noted that while Saucon Valley’s millage rate is the lowest in the county, their dollar-per-pupil expenditure rate is among the highest, adding, “I realize we’re a small school district, but why are we the highest?”

Baxter also suggested reaching out to resident families who’ve chosen to send their children to charter schools to see if the district could entice them – and their tax dollars – back into Saucon Valley. Bonenberger said that Saucon has over 150 such resident children, and board member Cedric Dettmar noted, “each one is tens of thousands of dollars.”

Nearly every board member acknowledged that finding areas of “discretionary spending” would be difficult, and Welch (and others) also pointed to several unavoidable upcoming facilities and maintenance expenditures, including a new roof needed on campus. Nonetheless, they urged the administration to “scour every corner,” as Dettmar said, for potential savings.

Ultimately, the board unanimously struck the proposal from the agenda and plan had to vote on a revised version at the May 24 meeting.