The Delmar School District signs off on a slightly lower tax rate, but district officials are sounding the alarm about the financial future.
At a meeting on Tuesday, the Board of Education voted 4-0 to approve the new tax rate, which comes in slightly lower than last year’s.
With the slight decrease, the average homeowner will see their property tax bill drop by around $20.
Meanwhile, however, the district could be facing difficult times, depending on the results of a January referendum.
District Chief Operating Officer Monet Smith told board members in a discussion of the district’s preliminary budget that money is tight. Earlier this year, the district put a freeze on all but essential spending, bringing the district in about $200,000 under budget this year. Smith says those savings will be instrumental in making next year’s budget work.
“We preserved $200,000 that we are utilizing every bit of that from last year's carryover to balance this year's budget,” she told board members.
There is a possibility of some relief on the horizon, however. The district has an operating referendum scheduled for January, after postponing it late in 2025. In addition to rising costs driven by inflation, Smith cautioned that the district needs to take a close look at what it pays its teachers.
“In order to recruit as well as retain the most high quality staff that we can, we need to be regionally, at least, competitive with our local salaries,” she said. “We are not right now, particularly with teachers, and we can't do that based on our current revenue.”
Smith said the district has a good case to make when it comes to financial responsibility.
“I think the fact that we've gone since 2015 without any local referendum and very minimal increases in assessed value is a testament to our fiscal stewardship,” she said.
In other business, the Board of Education announced the resignation of Vice-President Shane T. Bowden. The four other members of the board are expected to meet in early August to appoint someone to fill the vacancy.
