Three of Carbon Career and Technical Institute’s five sending school districts have approved its 2022-23 operating budget, Business Administrator Jeffrey Deutsch said during a joint operating committee meeting Thursday night.

“For the ninth consecutive year, we are not proposing an increase in total cost share funding from the five sending school districts,” Deutsch said. “That’s something we’re very proud of and we’ll continue to do our best to keep things tight with our budget.”

CCTI’s budget for 2022-23 is proposed to be $9.05 million, a 2.2% increase over the $8.85 million it budgeted for 2021-22.

Each of the five sending school districts in Carbon County vote on CCTI’s budget individually.

“Palmerton, Lehighton and Panther Valley have all unanimously approved it,” Deutsch said. “Jim Thorpe is planning on voting on it March 9. Weatherly will be taking a look at some point as well. We’re confident that by next month, we should have an approved budget to bring back to the JOC.”

While the cost share portion of the budget will stay flat, each sending district’s contribution does fluctuate annually based on five-year historical average enrollments.

Budgeted shares for 2022-23 are $1.37 million for Jim Thorpe, $1.31 million for Lehighton, $1.96 million for Palmerton, $1.36 million for Panther Valley and $304,800 for Weatherly.

According to CCTI’s budget document sent to districts, the 2022-23 plan includes contractual salary increases, modest increases to retirement benefits and maintenance costs, and no increases to employee medical premiums, equipment purchases, teaching and office supplies, and staff development and curriculum activities.

CCTI’s fund balance as of June 30, 2021, stood at $1.22 million, but Deutsch said it won’t be long before the school is operating at a deficit.

“We’re slowly reaching the point where our expenditures are going to exceed our revenue,” he said. “We would then have to dip into that fund balance. We promised our sending districts that we would not increase their cost share until we were at a deficit. We are going to honor that, but we’re reaching that point.”