May 22, 2015 2 min read

Central Greene School Board approved a $34,133,777 tentative budget Tuesday that calls for a 1.4823-mill tax increase.

The budget, if adopted as it is, will increase the property tax levy from 25.47 mills to 26.9523 mills.

Superintendent Brian Uplinger said Friday that the board plans to meet before the budget is adopted next month to review the spending plan to see if there are any areas where reductions can be made.

The tentative budget calls for using $1,343,081 of the district’s current fund balance.

Revenue is expected to remain relatively unchanged from this year, Uplinger said.

Major increases in spending are projected for retirement costs, which will jump about 32 percent over the next few years, and for health care costs, which are expected to increase between 3 and 5 percent next year, he said.

The proposed increase in the tentative budget exceeds the index established under the Taxpayers Relief Act. For a school district to increase taxes in excess of the index, the board was required to either receive an exception from the state Department of Education or have the proposed tax increase approved in a voter referendum.

The district had applied for two exceptions and received them for both retirement and special education costs, Uplinger said.

The tentative budget was approved in a 5-4 vote. Board members Andrew Corfont, Sharon Bennett, Kevin Barnhart, John Jacobs and Bridget Montgomery voted for the budget; voting against it were Joe Ayersman, Eleanor Chapman, Roberta Boyd and John Bristor.

The board plans to adopt a final budget at a meeting at 6:30 p.m. June 23, in the administration building.