With just over a month until a final spending plan is due, a property tax increase remains in line for taxpayers in the Tamaqua Area School District.

On a 7-0 vote, the school board on Tuesday approved the 2016-17 proposed preliminary budget with a 1.09-mill increase. Directors Aaron Frantz and Eileen Meiser were absent.The board is scheduled to grant final budget adoption when it meets at 7:30 p.m. June 21.If the board were to grant final approval to such a spending plan, it would raise the district's millage rate from 34.29 to 35.38 mills. The value of one mill is $317,365.That would mean a homeowner with a home valued at $100,000, which would be assessed at $50,000, would pay $55 more to the district in property taxes next year.The reason for the increase is due primarily to the capital needs/improvements of its buildings that remain on the board-approved list of additional items.In March, district business manager Connie Ligenza said the district was faced with a $3.3 million deficit due primarily to the Public School Employees Retirement System employer contribution rate, which in 2017 will cost the district $3.6 million (a 30-plus percent increase), and the cost for cyber charter schools, $700,000 per year, matters that are not uncommon across the state.In April, the district appeared poised to reduce its projected deficit by about $1.2 million, but said a 1.09 millage rate increase remained on track.The previous board-approved list of $861,950 consisted mainly of building, infrastructure and technology improvements for all buildings in the district.From there, the largest reduction would come through postponing those improvements, in addition to postponing the replacement of a portion of the high school roof costing $350,000.Other savings could be realized through the potential to limit in-town busing ($88,000); site budget reductions ($100,000); summer cleaning/maintenance reduction ($100,000); textbooks ($30,000); by leaving a second English as a Second Language position at a 0.6 full-time equivalent, versus expanding it to a full-time position ($21,000); and employee retirement savings ($28,000).By doing so, the district would be faced with a $2.12 million deficit, and would have to use $1,923,000 from its fund balance to balance the 2016-17 spending plan.The district did not raise taxes in the 2015-16 school year.The last time it did was in the 2014-15 school year, when the millage rate went up by 0.93 mills.