Northern Lehigh School District will not exceed the tax rate index in the event it opts to raise property taxes for the 2024-2025 school year.

On a 7-0 vote, the school board on Monday adopted the Act 1 tax levy resolution not to exceed the 7.1% index. Director Chad Christman was absent.

In June, the board on a 6-3 vote adopted the 2023-2024 general fund budget of $38,498,189, a 3.5% increase in the property tax rate.

It called for a millage rate of 24.8655 in Lehigh County (per $100 assessed valuation, 100%), and a millage rate of 71.8117 in Northampton County (per $100 assessed valuation, 50%).

Before that vote, Sherri Molitoris, co-director of business affairs/human resources, said the estimated fund balance as of June 30 would end somewhere in the neighborhood of $15 million.

Molitoris said they would use $850,000 out of the district’s assigned fund balance for the balancing of this year’s budget, and that the budget is with 5% built in per the preliminary budget that was approved at May’s board meeting.

She said expenditures were $38,498,189, while revenues were $37,942,309, which left a $555,880 shortfall.

Molitoris said there was a $850,619 budget shortfall, but the district committed using $294,000 out of health care fund balance for health care increases, and that there was $555,880 that would be used to balance the budget with the fund balance.