The Nazareth Area School District Board of Directors reviewed the district's proposed 2025-26 budget at the district office.
The $117 million spending plan calls for a 2.75% tax increase on property owners. The district announced that based on the average home assessment value of $74,000, property owners would see a $118.44 increase. The 2025-26 budget represents a $6 million increase, or 5.47%, from the current year's spending plan. In addition, the district has a $33.9 million fund balance. The majority of the district's revenues—72.8%, or $83.6 million—will come from local sources.
Almost all of the remaining funds are designated to NASD by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. That amount totals $30.8 million, with another $400,000 coming from the federal government. About 42% of NASD's spending is allocated to salaries worth $49 million. Benefits account for another $33.7 million, or 28.8% of the entire budget, bringing the total for salaries and benefits to $82.7 million. That amount is $3.4 million, or 4.32%, more than the 2024–25 school year.
The district plans to allocate $20.4 million for purchased services, $14 million for other expenses, and $7.9 million for debt service repayment. The NASD budget presentation included planning for a new K-4 elementary school building and staffing for that facility. The district's strategy involves implementing a multiyear tax phase-in period, with the assumption that the move will minimize the impact on the community. The district plans to use a similar approach for staff payments. During the phase-in period, this method could result in the district having a surplus of revenues over expenditures. The district will annually transfer the surplus into an account to cover some of the construction costs of the new elementary school building.
District officials also noted a contingency plan should the project exceed the budgeted amount. This strategy includes the use of in-house funds in combination with borrowed funds to increase budget flexibility. The district said the new facility is in response to an urgent need to alleviate significant overcrowding across three elementary school facilities. The 2024-25 budget contained a 1.26% tax hike, with the 2023-24 spending plan including a 1.25% tax increase. Officials added that the process of drafting the budget will continue until a final vote is taken, which is scheduled for June 10.
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