Pleasant Valley School District approved a General Fund Budget for the 2016-17 school year at Thursday's Board of Education meeting. While district residents need not worry about any tax increases, it will take on toll on the school district's funding - which could result in problems down the road.

Business manager Susan Famularo presented the General Fund Budget for approval. The proposed budget, according to a statement from the district, "maintains current programming for school district students, accounts for financial responsibility for students in charter and cyber charter schools and special needs students."There were no increases in taxation from the previous school year. However, $6.6 million in fund balance will be used to adjust for overall costs. While this means that the average tax bill will stay around $3,055 (based on the average assessed home value of about $20,920), the district may have to trim costs to keep the fund balance in line.To reduce budget costs over the past few years, the district has taken actions such as reconfiguring the school district, subcontracting transportation, condensing and eliminating bus runs, closing three elementary schools and cutting more than 116 professional, administrative and support staff positions.Essentially, these changes have allowed the budget to counteract the decrease in state funding for education over the past few years, all the while maintaining a consistent tax rate. Since the current rate has not increased in six years, any future drops in state funding for education could result in further cuts and adjustments to staff and schools.Unfortunately, this could also spell the end of the property tax freeze that residents have enjoyed over the past few years. The district is currently looking into the looming issue, as any more deficiencies will result in a conflict between maintaining the freeze and providing a good education for the area's children.As stated in a release on the subject, "The board is monitoring the school district's financial situation, and is looking at planning gradual further increases in millage, if warranted, to minimize the financial impact on our taxpayers." These gradual increases, if deemed necessary, would take the sting out of the local taxpayers' wallets, all the while assuring that Pleasant Valley's students continue to receive a good standard of education.