Panther Valley School District will have no tax increase for the 2022-23 school year, and district residents in Carbon County will see their taxes go down.

School board members voted 7-0 Wednesday night to pass a spending plan with $30,957,116.19 in expenses.

To balance the budget, the board will use $1,842,105 from its reserve funds. At the end of the 2022-23 school year, it will have approximately $1,907,894 left in its general fund balance.

Board President Daniel Matika said after the meeting that despite voting for the budget, he is worried about rising expenses for cyber charters and special education.

“Hopefully we keep growing as a district, and money comes in. And we hope the governor comes through for us,” he said.

The tax rate will be 64.61 mills for the district’s Carbon County residents, a decrease of 1.2%. Coaldale residents will be taxed at the same rate as last year, 60.2 mills.

The board wanted a budget with no tax increase for Coaldale residents, who pay the highest school property tax rate in Schuylkill County.

That required lowering taxes in Carbon.

When a school district covers parts of two counties, the state Tax Equalization Board comes up with a formula aimed at making the tax rate fair for taxpayers on both sides.

This year, the formula said that Coaldale had to pay a larger share.

The overall assessed property value for the district went down in 2021-22. Carbon County’s value went down more than Coaldale’s did, so the state said Coaldale should shoulder more of the district’s tax burden.

Panther Valley also has Carbon County’s highest school property tax rate.

The district’s business manager, Jesse Walck, had recommended a tax increase to cover the drop in property value.

“We’re just trying to make sure we can keep open our doors in the future,” Walck said.

Last month the board approved a proposed budget with a tax increase. On Wednesday, it considered a budget with a smaller tax increase and unanimously rejected it.

Superintendent David McAndrew Jr. said his administration will do what it can to cut from the budget, and to get grants to help reduce the budget deficit.

“We hope to see where we can save going forward,” he said.