Panther Valley School Board approved its tentative budget for the 2015-16 school year and it calls for a 3-mill tax increase.

But at least one board member vowed that the increase will be less."It will not be as stated, I promise you that," said Irene Genther.Genther also said the increase is not due to the building project, which converted a swimming pool area into classroom space.She said the building project costs were added to an existing bond that the district has. She said the district piggybacked on that bond issue.Kenneth Marx Jr., business manager, said failure to approve the tentative budget would possibly have meant that Homestead Exemption payments would not have occurred for property owners.The budget passed by a 5-3 vote. In favor were Genther, Brian Dolena, Bill Hunsicker, John Williams and Anthony DeMarco.Opposed were board President Jeff Markovich, Michelle Markovich and Roy Angst.Absent was board member Dan Heany.Angst said he was against any tax increase because newly elected governor Tom Wolf has promised financial relief for education.The budget is based on total expenditures of $25,798,662. This is a $650,000 increase over the existing budget.The expenses are actually higher than anticipated revenues, which total $24,241,805. The anticipated deficit is $1,556,857.