Pottsgrove Middle School, North Hanover Street.

POTTSTOWN PA – A preliminary budget of $58.5 million for the Pottsgrove School District‘s 2011-’12 year is expected to be approved as advertised tonight (Tuesday, Feb. 8, 2011) by the district Board of School Directors, when it meets at 7:30 p.m. in the cafeteria of Pottsgrove Middle School, 1351 N. Hanover St., Pottstown PA. The meeting is open to the public.

Board members decided last month to publicly introduce the first-draft spending plan, even though it currently shows a deficit of about $1.2 million, and work with volunteers in its Community Budget Task Force to find either cuts or new revenues that close the gap.

The budget’s accompanying effect on district property taxes is still a matter of speculation. At a minimum, the board has already announced, the district property tax rate will rise at least as much as its Pennsylvania-adjusted Act 1 index allows. That’s 1.8 percent, or about $74 in added taxes on the $120,000 value of what is described as the district’s “average” home.

The maximum, in which taxes alone are used to cover the deficit, could be 5.2 percent or an added $215. Directors have said they want to avoid that scenario, and hope a combination of internal reductions, task force suggestions and special exceptions granted by the state will allow them to find some comfortable middle ground, possibly around a 3.6-percent tax rate increase.

The preliminary budget is likely to undergo several revisions before being adopted by the board sometime during April, and possibly more revisions before adoption of a final budget during June.

The agenda for tonight’s meeting was posted early Monday evening (Feb. 7), and is available for download from the district website, here. Also scheduled for consideration by the board are:

• A recommendation to reimburse the district capital reserve fund by $1.2 million for payments made from it to cover early expenses incurred in the reconstruction of Ringing Rocks Elementary School, Kauffman Road. The reimbursement money will come from funds the district later borrowed for work at Ringing;

• Approval of change order requests related to Ringing Rocks, with a total value of $6,647, as well as payments to contractors involved with the project for work completed so far;

• The proposed settlement of a grievance lodged by its Teamsters Local Union No. 384 bargaining unit, which represents district maintenance workers; and

• Several personnel matters.

Related (to the Pottsgrove Board of School Directors’ Feb. 8 meeting):

• Pottsgrove Tentative Budget Adoption Expected

Related (to the Pottsgrove School District 2011-2012 budget):

• Pottsgrove Tentative Budget Adoption Expected
• Weather Postpones Pottsgrove Budget Meeting
• Still Time In Pottsgrove For Budget Volunteers To Enlist
• Challenge To Pottsgrove Budget Advisers: 10 Percent
• Best Guesses, Deficit Launch Pottsgrove Budget Season
• Senate Education Chair Preps For Voucher, Choice Battle
• School Board Questions Pottsgrove Recreation Costs
• Pension Reform Vote Could Benefit Pottsgrove, Others
• Notebook Worthy: News Reporters Made News Tuesday
• Pottsgrove Isn’t Waiting In Search For Budget Volunteers
• If You’ve Got A Budget Idea, Pottsgrove Says It’ll Listen
• Pottsgrove Seeks More Public Input On District Budget