It appears as though residents who live in the Northern Lehigh School District will not see an increase in their property tax rates next year.

Sherri Molitoris, co-director of business affairs/human resources, announced at Monday's school board meeting that the district is on a track to maintain its current millage rate.Molitoris said that while the district is currently faced with a $770,000 shortfall, it should be able to offset a tax increase through the use of its fund balance as the result of savings over the past few years.Additionally, Molitoris said the district was able to realize a $300,000 savings in health care costs.Molitoris said the board is scheduled to vote on its proposed final budget when it meets at 7:30 p.m. May 8.Final budget approval is expected at the board's June 12 meeting, she said.Last June, the board on a 7-2 vote adopted this year's budget with a 1.5 percent mill increase in the property tax rates.Molitoris said the district used $1,459,000 from its fund balance to balance that budget.Of that, she said $888,000 was 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.