Taxpayers in the Northern Lehigh School District will see a 2.5% increase in their property tax rates.

On a narrow 5-4 measure, the school board on Monday approved the general fund balance of $43,015,620 for 2025-2026.

It calls for a millage rate of 25.9914 in Lehigh County (per $100 assessed valuation), and a millage rate of 77.7220 in Northampton County (per $100 assessed valuation).

Before the vote, Superintendent Dr. Matthew J. Link said the administration was recommending a districtwide ESL teacher, a Life Skills teacher at Northern Lehigh Middle School, two paraeducators in lieu of Open Horizons, and an elementary assistant principal shared among Peters Elementary School and Slatington Elementary School.

Link said the district’s current fund balance is just slightly above $18 million.

He said administration is also recommending two additional capital improvement considerations to be included in the 2025-2026 school year budget: water softeners and filtration systems at both Slatington Elementary School and Northern Lehigh High School, each at a cost of $20,000.

District Business Manager Sherri Molitoris said expenses total $43,015,620 that includes new positions that were recommended, while revenues total $42,440, of that is onetime purchases of $1,320,874.

Molitoris said local revenues does still have 3.5% tax increase in it, which gives the district additional revenues of $457,045.

She said expenditures still supersede the district’s revenues, leaving a budget shortfall of $575,599.

Molitoris said estimated ending fund balance at the end of the 2024-2025 school year if the district uses fund balance for just the revenue for the onetime purchases of the $1,320,874, it will end with a fund balance of $17,448,000.

In order to balance the budget, she said the district will also need to use the budget shortfall of $575,599, which means the district would have an ending fund balance of roughly $16,872,401.

“Keep in mind that these fund balances are projecting that we are going to put roughly $725,000 back into this fund balance, so that $17,448,000 includes the anticipated amount of $725,000 back in the fund balance,” Molitoris said.

Adoption of budget

Initially, Director Gary Fedorcha made a motion for a 2.5% increase, but that motion died for lack of a second.

Afterward, Director Chad Christman made a motion for a 2% increase, but that motion failed on a 6-3 vote. Directors Gale Husack, Robert Kern, Donna Kulp, Angela Williams, Fedorcha, and board President Mathias Green were opposed, with directors Natalie Snyder, Rhonda Frantz, and Christman in favor.

Following that, Fedorcha went back to his original motion for a 2.5% increase, which passed 5-4. Fedorcha, Kulp, Frantz, Snyder and Christman were in favor, with Husack, Kern, Williams and Green opposed.

In April, the board on an narrow 5-4 vote approved the proposed $42,993,231 general fund budget that called for a 3.5% tax increase for 2025-2026. However, school directors said at that time the final property tax hike in June was unlikely to be that high.

Public comment

Several residents shared their thoughts before the vote.

Keith Horn told the board “I thought we were done with this tax increase when we were done with the (previously proposed) common campus.

“Now is not the time for a tax increase,” Horn said. “For all of you who are against this hike, thank you; for all those that ain’t for it, well you can kiss my you know what.”

Fred Phillips told the board he believes the fund balance should be used this year to not have a tax increase on the taxpayers.

“It’s not easy to have a budget with the tax base that we have here,” Phillips said. “And yes it is important to have money to hire teachers that are needed, to upgrade certain systems that are needed, but we have to live within our budget.”

Lauren Ganser asked “how terrible would it be to give the taxpayers a little break for a change?

“Can you just give us a break,” Ganser asked. “Just use the fund balance that we’ve all been contributing to.”