Facing a $13.2 million deficit and the uncertain impacts of COVID-19, the School District of Lancaster Board of Directors on May 19 approved a $233 million proposed final budget for the 2020-2021 school year.
The board has until the end of June to make any further adjustments before approving the budget for the upcoming year.
The board is facing numerous unknowns—the impact of the struggling economy on local revenues and state subsidies, future Act 1 limits and the costs associated with returning to a “new normal” in the fall. The proposed final budget projects a $2.8 million loss in local revenues and no new dollars in state subsidies.
To close the funding gap, the budget calls for spending nearly $7.5 million in reserves making $3.8 million in adjustments to existing programs and staff. The budget also calls for a 2.5 percent increase in real estate taxes, which would raise nearly $2 million in new revenue and cost the average single-family homeowner about $90 per year.