For the second straight year, it appears Lehighton Area School District homeowners will not see a property tax increase when the school board adopts its budget in 2016.

On Monday night, the school board unanimously voted to stay within its state-assigned Act 1 index, meaning it can't raise taxes more than 3.3 percent without a voter referendum.The index is calculated by averaging the percent increases in the Pennsylvania statewide average weekly wage and the federal employment cost index for elementary/secondary schools.The motion also included a recommendation not to increase taxes for 2016-17."We're very fortunate with that," Lehighton Superintendent Jonathan Cleaver said. "There is a five-year plan in place here, and that includes financing for our building projects and projected savings from consolidating four elementary schools into one elementary center. If the direction on the elementary center changes, we'll have to re-evaluate that."Lehighton has been moving forward with plans for a $32.5 million elementary center and borrowed money for the project in September. A board with three new members elected in November voted Monday to enact a three-month moratorium on any new filings as part of the state's approval process for the new school.Board President Hal Resh said the 90 days will allow the new members to get information that includes alternative options.Building a new school would not impact the district's debt service, Cleaver said, but that may not be the case with renovations at four aging schools depending on their cost.Lehighton's Business Administrator Brian Feick said previously that by using its fund balance, the district would not have to raise taxes until 2021."Even if the board chose to go in another direction away from an elementary center, we would still work for a budget with no property tax increase," Cleaver said. "We'd have to meet with our finance committee, however, to see how we could get to that point."