No Tax Hike Projected in Latest CB School Budget

The last time the Central Bucks School District did not raise property taxes, the current high school seniors were not even born yet.

During Tuesday night's school board meeting, business administrator David Matyas presented a plan of expense cuts and revised revenue projections that would give the district a budget with no millage increases, the first time since 1993.

The board will vote to accept the new 2013-14 budget proposal on April 23, with final budget adoption scheduled for the May 28 meeting.

The two biggest cuts proposed by Matyas include $1.1 million from eliminating 10 teaching positions and mobile classrooms and $2.8 million from deferring the district's long range capital plan by one year.

Some board members expressed concern that holding off on the long range capital plan could hurt them further down the road, but Matyas said the district has already reserved enough funds to make the impact negligable.

On the revenue side, Matyas raised projected money from real estate taxes to $260,000 and earned income taxes to $490,000.

"We are seeing some higher assessments and wage growth in the district, which is all good news," said Matyas.

The combined savings and revenue equals out to $6,090,00 million, erasing the budget shortfall projected in the preliminary 2013-2014 budget adopted in January. The original proposal included a 3 percent tax raise to make up the difference, which would mean an average increase of approximately $150 to the taxpayers.