Panther Valley School District residents will have no school property tax increase for the 2021-22 school year.

During a school board meeting last week, members voted 5-3 to approve the 2021-22 budget with no tax increase. President Daniel Matika, Marco D’Ancona, William Mansberry voted against, and Keith Krapf was absent.

The final budget keeps the tax rate at 60.22 mills for the district’s Schuylkill county residents, and 65.44 mills for its Carbon County residents.

The tax bill for a home in Carbon County with the average property assessment of $19,000 will have a tax bill of $1,243. The tax bill for a home in Schuylkill County with the average property assessment of $16,800 will have a tax bill of $1,011.

The budget has no cuts to sports or programs.

The spending plan has $34.4 million in expenses. The 2020-21 budget was about $6 million less.

The budget uses about $6 million in federal COVID relief funds that the district received this year.

The COVID funding is being used in a variety of areas. The budget for cybercharter tuition has increased. The district’s health insurance contributions have also gone up.

Some of the COVID relief money will go to pay for equipment and supplies which will be used in years to come.

Some will be used over the next three years to fund positions helping students who fell behind during the pandemic.

The district also expects to save about $500,000 next year by refinancing some of its long-term debt.

Due in part to the COVID relief money in this year’s budget the district will be able to put $3.4 million into budgetary reserve, which it can use in future years.

“We are spending the COVID money for regular expenses that are qualified under those grants. In exchange, we’re retaining some of that tax revenue to be used in 2022-23,” said district business manager Jesse Walck.

Before the district received the COVID relief funds, it was looking at a large budget deficit.

In January, Walck recommended that the board raise taxes by 5.7 mills this year.

When the board voted to pass its proposed final budget in June, board member Mansberry said there should be a small, 0.5-mill tax increase.

“We are only getting ourselves deeper and deeper,” Mansberry said; “0.5 would be better than nothing.”