The Jim Thorpe Area School District board of directors have passed a 2020-21 budget with no tax increase.

The board plans to take $4.8 million from its reserve funds in order to balance the budget.

Board members voted 7-2 to approve the budget Monday night, with Glenn Confer and Raniero Marciante voting against.

Initially, the board rejected the budget, voting 6-3 against. But after some discussion, and pledges to continue to cut expenses, they passed the spending plan on a second vote.

The tax rate will be the same as 2019-20, 45.52 mills. The owner of a house assessed at $50,000 will have a property tax bill of $2,776.

The approved budget includes $49,048,933 in expenses.

While the board has planned to take $4.8 million from its reserves, board members said they believe that they will be able to reduce expenses during the coming fiscal year.

Cindy Lesisko-Henning and Pearl Sheckler each said they would like to receive monthly reports on budgeted and actual expenses, so the board can have a better idea of the budget situation as it happens.

Board members TJ Garritano and Scott Pompa both said they believe that cuts can be made from the budget. Garritano said that in 2018-19, the district projected a $4.5 million budget, but actually ended up with a much smaller deficit.

“It’s a public appearance that we’re at a $4.5 million deficit, in all reality we are not. we’re not even close,” he said.

Pompa said he’s concerned that the district’s expenses have increased significantly over the last eight years.

Glenn Confer questioned why employees are receiving raises while many taxpayers continue to deal with lost income due to COVID-19. The board’s attorney said that they are contractually obligated to pay the increases.

“Nobody should get an increase on July 1. You have people who are going out of business. Where does it end?” Confer said.

Surridge said the budget was completed with the anticipation that property tax collections will be down due to the financial impact of COVID-19. He said that the district relies heavily on local tax revenue.

Before the end of the meeting, board President Jerry Strubinger proposed that the district petition the county to reassess homes in the district which were sold recently, so their tax bill reflects the new sale price. No other board members supported the motion.

In other business:

The board voted to approve to use the PA COSTARS program for fuel bidding

The board voted to approve a 3-year contract with Waste Management.

The board voted to approve a contract with Brickstreet for its package and workers comp insurance at a cost of $229,978.