Upper Darby administration recommends accelerated Act 1 opt‑out; board signals support

The Upper Darby School District administration on Monday recommended that the board adopt an accelerated Act 1 opt‑out resolution for the 2026–27 budget year, saying the move would limit any tax increase to the state’s adjusted Act 1 index of 5.1 percent.

“ Our recommendation as the administration would be to go down the path again of the opt out resolution,” Mr. Rogers said during the Finance and Operations Committee presentation, summarizing the difference between a preliminary budget (which preserves the option to pursue exceptions above the adjusted index) and the accelerated opt‑out (which commits the district not to increase taxes beyond the adjusted index).

The administration laid out both timelines. Under a preliminary budget path the district would publish and present a preliminary budget and could seek exceptions for pension (PSERS), special education or other allowable categories; that path includes additional public notices and an adoption vote in February. The accelerated opt‑out path would ask the board to adopt the opt‑out resolution at the Dec. 2 voting meeting and then proceed with regular budget presentations with a proposed final adoption in May.

Administrators noted a relevant state funding development: recent appropriations for “adequacy and tax equity” funds could make it impossible to raise taxes above the adjusted index in future years if those funds continue. Mr. Rogers said that factoring in those funds and the district’s ability to balance within the index informed the administration’s recommendation.

Board members thanked administration for the analysis and voiced concern for taxpayers’ burdens as well as for the message undershooting the index might send to state policymakers. Several members emphasized balancing fiscal restraint with program needs.

The board indicated consensus to support moving the accelerated opt‑out resolution forward for formal consideration at the Dec. 2 voting meeting. The administration will return with a formal resolution and related materials on that schedule.

Next steps: the district will present the opt‑out resolution at the Dec. 2 voting meeting for adoption or further motion; if adopted the district would not pursue increases beyond the adjusted index for 2026–27 absent future action.