Panther Valley School Board members cut about $600,000 from the preliminary budget they passed in January in an attempt to avoid increasing school property taxes.

However, in the end, district officials said that they would have to "decimate" programs to avoid a tax increase on district residents.The board voted 5-2 Thursday night to adopt a proposed final budget that includes $26,100,101 in expenses, about $750,000 more than 2015-16. The board will have a final vote at the June meeting.Wayne Gryzik and Renee DeMelfi voted against the proposed budget. DeMelfi said she could not support a tax increase.Board member Gary Porembo was absent, and John Williams submitted his resignation before the meeting."The thought of raising taxes is of course not a palatable concept for anyone - the board has an obligation to dedicate funds for the school district," Superintendent Dennis Kergick said.The property tax rate for Carbon County residents would be 58.19 mills, roughly 4 percent more than 2015-16. For residents of Coaldale borough, it will be 48.65, less than a 1 percent increase.The district has different rates for the two counties because the market value of property in Coaldale is slightly higher than the rest of the district.Officials pointed out that it would be only the second tax increase in the past seven years - the other being a 2-mill increase to fund an addition at the high school in 2014-15. In the preceding seven years (2003-04 through 2009-10) taxes were raised seven times, an overall increase of 20 mills.Board member Irene Genther said she and her colleagues worked hard to reduce the final tax rate from the district's preliminary budget, passed in February."That was a lot of work. I would have hoped that it would be less than that, but I agree with (Kergick and business manager Ken Marx), we have to keep everything going," she said.If the board chose to eschew a tax increase, the district's fund balance would dip to about $225,000 - about 1 percent of the district's budget, officials said. The state Department of Education recommends that districts keep a fund balance equal to roughly 2-5 percent of their general fund."Cuts would not be surgical, they would be butchering programs, I strongly urge the board to think about the impact that these cuts would have," Kergick said.