Five days before a vote on the 2021-22 budget, Lehighton Area School District’s finance committee got a final look at the plan during a special meeting Wednesday.

The budget, according to Business Manager Edward Rarick, calls for revenues of $42,717,382 and expenditures of $42,714,981 for a projected surplus of $2,401.

“There’s still a lot of work to do, but I think this is a step in the right direction,” Rarick said Wednesday. “I’m looking forward to a board vote on this Monday.”

Not much has changed since Lehighton’s board approved a proposed final budget in May. The budget includes a full $1.3 million for student transportation after that line item was cut and eventually partially restored last year.

There is $915,219 budgeted for technology, $322,000 of which will go toward new Chromebooks.

In terms of building repairs, $159,000 is budgeted for an administration building roof replacement.

The district’s annual debt service payment is slated to be just shy of $3.8 million.

A contribution to Lehighton Area Memorial Library remains at $10,000, which is a $10,000 reduction from 2020-21.

Classroom supplies was a hot topic of discussion Wednesday night, with Rarick stating the district needs to get back to funding the items students and teachers need to succeed.

“There is a large need in terms of classroom supplies and we really haven’t made those purchases over the past few years,” Rarick, who started in his position late last year, said. “Our technology department in the high school is trying to do fundraisers to get supplies. Our wood shop is begging and pleading to get lumber for projects. Our science department is in need of petri dishes to do projects. It’s disheartening to know our math departments didn’t have workbooks.”

Finance committee member Nathan Foeller asked Rarick to get an estimated dollar figure on the classrooms supplies needed in the district.

“We’re not out of the woods financially,” Foeller said, “but we really do want to fund those items that our students need to be successful.”

Lehighton’s budget calls for a 4.2% property tax increase. A homeowner with a property assessed at $80,000 would see a $170 increase in property taxes.

Reverse course

The district had been looking at restructuring 2014 and 2015A bond notes which would give short-term cash flow of $1.88 million in the 2021-22 fiscal year and $1.24 million in the 2022-23 fiscal year in exchange for a $2.69 million overall cost when the bonds fall off in 2044.

Rarick advised against the move, saying he wouldn’t do it with his personal finances.

“It is adding debt,” he said. “There is a cost associated with it. The district’s position is much different today than it was six months ago. When I started, we were talking about taking tax advance notes to get through the spring. We’re in a much better position today.”

Director Rita Spinelli concurred, saying the district was in a much different place when the restructuring discussion started.

“We no longer need to pursue this,” she said on Wednesday.

On May 24, the district voted 5-4 on May 24 to move forward with the restructuring and put the cash generated in the next two years in a restricted fund balance.

“If this changes a year down the road, we have the option to look at it again,” Foeller said.

Solicitor Fees

Lehighton is weighing three proposals from legal firms vying to represent it.

Sweet, Stevens, Katz and Williams listed its hourly rates at $160/hour for attorneys and $125/hour for legal assistants. Nonroutine matters would be billed at $195/hour for attorneys and $125/hour for legal assistants.

Filer and Schwab’s proposal calls for $165/hour for an attorney and $75/hour for a paralegal.

King, Spry, Herman, Freund and Faul, which the district currently uses for special education and several other nonroutine matters, listed an annual fee of $15,000 for 2021-22. The annual fee would cover routing services. For other matters, the firm’s $160/hour rate would kick in.

The district’s current agreement with Filer and Schwab expires on June 30.

On Wednesday night, Rarick outlined how much the district has spent with Filer & Schwab, and King, Spry, Herman, Freund and Faul in 2020-21.

With Filer and Schwab, the district spent:

• $1,171.50 for matters dealing with Right To Know requests.

• $11,671.95 for routine solicitor matters.

• $27,980.30 for Right To Know appeals.

• $528 for assessment appeals.

• $93.50 for a human relations complaint.

With King, Spry, Herman, Freund and Faul, the district spent:

• $5,163.72 for a policy and finance committee complaint filed by director David Bradley.

• $469 for a Sunshine Act complaint filed by Bradley.

• $1,289 for special education services.

• $2,364 for an athletic committee complaint filed by Bradley.

• $99 for contract matters.

• $489.50 for a discrimination complaint.

• $30,594 for a lawsuit by Bradley calling for the removal of five board members.

• $359 for a public human relations complaint.

• $33 for a Qualified Zone Academy Bond matter.

• $4,421.50 for general matters.