During a meeting Tuesday, the Tamaqua Area School Board approved the budget for 2014-15 with a 5-3 vote. The budget includes a 0.93-mill tax increase.

Bryan Miller, Aaron Frantz, Dan Schoener, Mark Rother and Wanda Zuber voted in favor of the budget, while board President Larry Wittig, Robert Betz and Eileen Meiser voted against it.The 0.93-mill increase means that on average, based on a home valued at $39,000, a homeowner will see a $37 increase in taxes per year. Even with the tax increase, the district will begin the year with a $5 million general fund balance and end it with $2.8 million, using roughly $2.2 million of the general fund balance.Some potential cost increases are as yet unknown, as the district is in the midst of negotiating two open contracts. The teachers' contract expires in August and the contract for service personnel, which includes janitorial, secretarial and cafeteria workers, expired June 30 of last year.During the meeting, Wittig told the directors that "next year we're going to be having the same conversation.""We're raising taxes this year, and are we going to do it again next year?" Wittig asked. "And the next year?"Frantz asked District Business Manager Connie Ligenza how much the district's contribution to the Public School Employees Retirement System affects the budget. Ligenza said that during 2014-15, the amount the district pays PSERS will be in excess of $600,000. She said the district has been paying between $400,000 and $600,000 to PSERS for several years."We're going to be underwater until they (state officials and legislators) figure it out," said Schoener, who heads the board's finance committee. "We're not going to make up PSERS."In another matter related to the district's finances, Todd Bushta of Bushta & Company LLC, Lehigh Valley, reported on his firm's audit of the district for 2012-13. Bushta said the district had no instances of noncompliance, and that the financial records of the district "were superb, comprehensive and well-maintained."Nicole Henning, Ashland, was hired as secondary guidance counselor. Janet Dolack, who had been with the district for 35 years, had retired as guidance counselor last month.The school board voted to renew the district's lease agreement with the Schuylkill Intermediate Unit 29 to provide classroom space, which will be used to conduct a preschool program from July 2014 to June 2015. The consideration for the agreement is $10,200 per year.