Great Valley School Board Votes for 'Option B,' Full Exceptions

The Board of School Directors in Great Valley approved a $76 million budget Monday night, including a 2.9 percent tax increase for property owners. The new rate equals a $119 increase on the average home in the district, valued at $223,485. 

The vote was between two options laid out by superintendent Alan Lonoconus at the start of the meeting, the difference between them being the number of exemptions taken to bypass a state-imposed 1.4 percent annual increase cap. "Option B," which came up for a vote first, utilizes all exemptions and received the support of board members Suzanne Carr, Kevin McTear, Andrew Daga, David Barratt and Scott Oswald.

Bruce Chambers, Ted Leisenring, Philip Foret and Gene Kozik cast the dissenting votes, but the 5-4 vote was enough to pass Option B, without "Option A" coming up for a vote. That option called for a 2.3 percent increase. Both options cover the projected expenditures for the school year, but Option B allows the district to keep more funds in reserve.

"As the superintendent explained many times, more reductions must come in the following year, and probably the year after that. I therefore can't support a tax increase which goes beyond what's necessary to balance the budget," board president Chambers said, adding that taxpayers have seen a 54 percent tax increase in the last decade.

"If we can balance the budget with a 2.3 percent tax increase, I think we should do that," he said.

Members voting on both sides of the issue expressed an adherance to responsible government as their justification. Foret asserted that district already holds millions of dollars of the public's money in reserve, and isn't entitled to more unnecessary rainy day funds. Daga countered that it was encumbent upon the board to prepare for the future.

"What concerns me is not the balancing of this year's budget, but of budgets yet to come," Daga said. "Good governance requires that we take a conservative approach here, which is in fact, to give ourselves the cushion that we need."

Multiple board members expressed appreciation for the efforts of the superintendent and his staff to cut expenditures. Those cuts included reductions to the the number of administrators, teachers and support staff in the schools, health care reductions and consolidated busing.

The meeting was not without a few lively disagreements among the board and interjections from the audience, which Dr. Lonoconus might have predicted as he stepped to the lectern.

"Look out, here we go," he said early in the evening, as he prepared to deliver one last budget presentation for the year.

Under Act 1, the district had until June 30 to pass a budget and submit it to the state Department of Education. Now that the budget has been set, tax bills are expected to be mailed out by June 15.

[Editor's note: A previous version of this article incorrectly stated the percentage of the state-imposed annual tax increase cap. The article has been changed to reflect the correct value, which is 1.4 percent.]