Board to vote on tentative $25.1M budget

By Kirk Beldon Jackson

The Morning Call

May 10, 2008

The Catasauqua Area School Board on Monday will vote on a tentative 2008-09 budget that would raise the property tax 3.7 percent.

The $25.1 million spending plan is about $1.5 million more than the current budget. It would increase the millage 1.72 mills to 48.29. The tax bill on a home assessed at $50,000 would rise $86 to $2,414.

For several years in a row, the district has approved budgets that have included tax increases.

The district's economic situation has been strained at times due to a number of factors. Those included costs associated with construction of a new high school in Allen Township and renovation of its old high school into a middle school.

They also included a state Supreme Court decision nullifying the district's right to tax certain lands connected with Lehigh Valley International Airport, which costs the district $355,000 a year in new taxes and requires it to pay back about $1.3 million already collected.

Superintendent Robert Spengler said he believes the district is ''certainly moving toward some financial strength and solidarity here.''

The proposed budget includes two new positions, an additional fourth-grade teacher and a career and student advancement counselor, Spengler said. The new teaching position is to maintain class size in the grade at 21 or 22 students, he said.

The first of its kind in the district, the counseling position is designed to create a tie between career and education, Spengler said. The counselor would help students with their post-graduation plans and help build relationships with local businesses that would enable students to learn about careers, he said.

''Our goal is for our students to find enjoyable, life-sustaining work,'' Spengler said.

Director Sally Reiss said she will vote against the budget. ''Sometimes a tax increase is needed, since we were hit with tax increases for so many years starting with that new high school, give the citizens a break,'' she said.

But Director Carol McCarthy feels the tax increase is necessary. ''The needs of the children in the district dictate the increase in the budget, this is not a line-our-pockets budget,'' she said.

She said the new counseling position is necessary because the district needs someone who can help students make informed decisions about their futures.

''We need to provide information,'' he said. ''We need to have somebody out there who can tap into these areas. We need to have someone who can make our students aware of every opportunity that is available to them.''

The school board will vote on a final budget in June.

kirk.jackson@mcall.com 610-820-6527

Copyright © 2008 The Morning Call, All Rights Reserved.