Board Approves 2025-2026 Preliminary Budget
At its regularly scheduled action meeting on April 22, 2025, the Board of School Directors approved the 2025-2026 preliminary budget for the Elizabethtown Area School District. The proposed spending plan totals $81,793,887 and includes a 2.5% increase in the real estate tax rate, bringing the new millage rate to 20.2848 mills.
For the average residential property assessed at $196,466, this translates to an estimated annual tax increase of $97, or about $8 per month.
To balance the preliminary budget, the district will use $1,179,619 from fund balance reserves to close an equivalent budget gap.
It’s important to note that the 2025-2026 preliminary budget does not include any increases to professional staff salaries or benefits, as a new teachers' contract has not yet been approved. If a new agreement is reached before the adoption of the final budget, the district would update the budget to reflect any additional costs—either by increasing revenue or adjusting expenditures to keep the budget balanced. However, if a contract is finalized after the final budget is adopted, the district would need to consider other measures to maintain fiscal responsibility, such as deferring select expenses or using additional fund balance reserves.