Northern Lehigh School District's budget projects a 2.5 percent increase in taxes.

Officials are hoping to pare that down before final adoption.On an 8-1 vote, the school board on Monday adopted the proposed general fund final budget for the 2016-17 school year. Director Robert Keegan Jr. was opposed.Before the vote, Keegan expressed his concern about whether funds are available in the budget to fix the baseball field scoreboard.Keegan then explained his rationale in voting against the $32,322,527 spending plan, which calls for a 21.48 millage rate in Lehigh County, and a 63.85 millage rate in Northampton County."Our legislators violated the constitution by not having a budget," Keegan said. "I'm going to protest because I believe what they did is unconscionable."While he voted in favor of the budget, board President Edward Hartman told Keegan he agreed with him.Superintendent Michael Michaels said that in his position as head of the district, he doesn't have a choice in the matter.Director Gary Fedorcha stressed that there's still time for the board to refine the spending plan."This in no way will be our final budget," Fedorcha said.Director Mathias Green said that when compared to other districts, he believes Northern Lehigh is on solid footing."I look at a $32 million budget and see an $11 million reserve fund," Green said. "That's unheard of."Green said he isn't comfortable with a high tax increase."If we get through five years and still have $5 million left, we're in good shape," he said. "I just don't see the big need for Northern Lehigh to have a 2.5 percent increase."The board is expected to vote on the budget when it meets at 7:30 p.m. June 13.In December, the board adopted a resolution that stated it would limit tax increases to the 3.2 percent tax index level.That decision came after it rejected a motion in October to raise taxes above the index as calculated by the Pennsylvania Department of Education.Had the board voted to do so, it would have required a preliminary budget for the 2016-17 school year to have been approved before Jan. 7.Michaels previously said that the only area for which the district would have applied for an exception would have been special education.In June, the board, on an 8-1 vote, approved the 2015-16 spending plan with a 2.25 percent increase in the property tax rate.That $30,828,379 spending plan raised the millage rate to 21.15 mills in Lehigh County, and to 59.14 mills in Northampton County.A person with a median assessed value home in Lehigh County, which would be $144,800, paid $3,062, or $56 more, in property taxes to the district this year. Lehigh County is assessed at 100 percent.A person with a median assessed value home in Northampton County, which would be $48,500, paid $2,868, or $63 more, in property taxes to the district this year. Northampton County is assessed at 50 percent.That budget required the use of $993,299 of the district's fund balance.