The Pleasant Valley school board directors approved the 2017-18 final proposed school year budget Thursday evening.

The budget is scheduled to be adopted on June 22 remains steady at 146.016 mills.The millage represents a tax bill of $3,064 for a home assessed at the district average of $20,980.The only uncertainty in the proposed final budget is the state funding which district Business Manager Susan Famularo estimated to remain essentially the same as in previous years.Local gambling funds, which are estimated to be approximately $4 million to the district, are not reflected in the budget either.The district's debt load is slowly decreasing, and after 2020 drops significantly, over $7.5 million per year, making the district nearly debt-free."It is important to note that this is the seventh consecutive year the millage rate has remained at 146.016 mills," Famularo said."Future sustained deficiencies in state funding may impact the board's ability to continue a property tax freeze and fulfill its obligation to provide a quality education to its children."District Superintendent Carole Geary said that the district has worked hard to keep costs down as the enrollment continues to decline."It is much harder to shrink than it was to grow," Geary said.Geary pointed out that as the enrollment has declined the professional staff, support staff and administrative staff has decreased as well. In the past nine years the district has eliminated 121.5 positions.The district has also taken a number of administrative steps to decrease costs.Famularo and Geary listed these as negotiating fair labor contracts, reconfiguring the school district, refinancing bonds, subcontracting transportation, condensing and eliminating bus runs, increasing ACCESS reimbursements, creating the Pleasant Valley Cyber Academy,closing three elementary schools, joining purchasing consortia and performance contracting."We have been able to continue to give a quality education without cutting programs like music and the arts," Geary said. "Other districts have been forced to cut these programs."Geary noted that after having recently seen the middle school production of "The Pirates of Penzance" how lucky the district is to have the programs and the talented kids who continue to take advantage of them.