Finance committee forwards 5% Act 1 tax proposal after hearing $15.58 million shortfall in proposed 2026–27 budget

A staff presenter told the East Stroudsburg Area SD finance committee on June 8 that the district’s proposed 2026–27 budget projects $197,829,785 in total revenue and proposed expenditures of approximately $213,482,979, leaving a $15,579,194 gap to be covered from general-fund reserves.

"There have been no changes since last month with local or state revenues," the staff presenter said, noting a $300,000 federal increase tied to school-based access program funding that will support two special-education teaching positions. The presenter also reviewed the Act 1 tax-impact worksheet used to calculate median bill changes under a 5% allowable index increase.

The presenter said real-estate taxes contributed a $4.9 million revenue increase in the proposal, and the district’s millage rates were listed as 33.01 for Monroe and 138.62 for Pike County. Staff added the state’s homestead and farmstead rebate produced an applicable tax-credit amount of $778.80 per eligible property.

Board members and staff stressed the budget’s sensitivity to personnel and benefit costs. The presenter identified debt restructuring (roughly $8.8 million in one-time debt changes) and roughly $1.1 million in operational savings from position decisions as the largest single-year adjustments that reduced the initial draft deficit from about $35 million to the current figure. Charter school tuition, reported at roughly $11 million annually, was singled out as a structural cost driver.

One member noted the district recorded 425 students in charter schools this year and cautioned that returning students to district schools would reduce the tuition line. The presenter outlined ongoing residency checks and enforcement challenges, saying 308 families did not respond during a recent residency verification effort and that pursuing legal challenges to subsidy payments can be costly.

The finance committee voted to forward the final PDE-2028 budget packet to the full board for a scheduled June 15 vote. Committee members and staff said the district will provide a breakdown of household impact under different rate scenarios for board consideration.

What’s next: the full board will consider adoption on June 15; staff said they will prepare comparative tax-rate scenarios and continue to monitor insurance and charter tuition assumptions.