Residents who live in the Northern Lehigh School District will have a 1.5 percent mill increase in their property tax rates next year.

On a 7-2 vote, the school board on Monday adopted the 2016-17 general fund budget in the amount of $32,223,817. Directors Robert Keegan Jr and Mathias Green were opposed.The budget calls for a 21.27 millage rate in Lehigh County, and a 63.22 millage rate in Northampton County.Sherri Molitoris, co-director of business affairs/human resources, said the district will use $1,459,000 from its fund balance to balance the budget.Of that, $888,000 are for one-time maintenance costs, such as for rooftop repair at the field house, repair of the track, a hot water heater at the field house, and rooftop units at Peters Elementary, Molitoris said.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.Superintendent Michael Michaels previously said that the only area for which the district would have applied for an exception would have been special education.Last year, 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.Under that budget, 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.Also under that budget, 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.In other matters, the board:• Authorized First Niagara, Wells Fargo National Bank, TD Wealth, Prudential-Bache Government Securities Trust, Pennsylvania Local Government Investment Trust, and Embassy Bank to act as approved depositories for school district funds and/or temporary investments. The board also authorized the same financial institutions to transfer funds on deposit to any other bank for the credit of the school district, and authorized the business manager and/or superintendent to enter into agreements, supplements, or amendments to agreements to implement the foregoing operations for the 2016-17 school year.• Granted permission to the business office to pay general fund and capital projects bills that are scheduled for payment during the month of July as required by contract. There is no scheduled board meeting in July.• Agreed to renew the following expiring bonds for the 2016-17 fiscal year through Willis of Pennsylvania: a $50,000 board secretary bond for the term of July 1, 2016, to July 1, 2017, at an annual premium of $175; and a $50,000 board treasurer bond for the period July 1, 2016, to July 1, 2017, at an annual premium cost of $269.• Approved to assign portions of the June 30, 2016 fund balance for the following purposes: PSERS increase, health insurance premiums, technology, replacement equipment, and long-range maintenance. Actual amounts to be determined after completion of the 2015-16 end-of-year audit.