Taxes will remain flat for homeowners in the Allegheny Valley School District if the school board opts to move forward with its current preliminary budget.

The budget would maintain the district’s current rate of 21.7049 mills. That means a taxpayer who owns property with the median assessed value of $85,900 would continue to pay $1,864 in school taxes.

For the second year straight, however, Allegheny Valley would be forced to draw from its fund balance to cover its costs.

District expenditures are predicted to be about $28.37 million while revenues only amount to $25.56 million, meaning Allegheny Valley would draw about $2.8 million from its $20.6 million reserves.

The budget forecasts about $17.75 million in local revenues, on par with this year’s budget; $7.25 million in state funding, about $220,000 more than this year; and a level $335,000 from the federal sources.

Expenditures would see a slight dip of around $200,000 compared to this year, mainly driven by a small dip in debt payments.

Like most districts, more than half of its budget will go toward employee salaries and benefits, while another chunk would be used to service its debt obligations.

School Board President Paula Moretti said district Business Manager Hamsini Rajgopal also managed to trim various items in the budget like not hiring a new public relations director and replacing electronic devices less often.

But she said the budget does not include any staff or program reductions.

Superintendent Patrick Graczyk lamented unfunded mandates from the state government, which many districts cite as a financial hurdle.

“Over the course of this budget process, we have worked to balance fiscal responsibility with the evolving academic, behavioral and emotional needs of our students and the unprecedented unfunded and partially funded mandates of our district,” he said.

For now, the district remains stable, Moretti said, but Rajgopal warned the board that it could not rely on its reserve funds to close budget gaps indefinitely.

In the coming years, Moretti said she expects further tax hikes.

This year, district home owners were hit with a 1.48% increase, which followed a 2.65% tax hike for the 2024-25 school year.

The board will vote to approve the preliminary budget at its May 18 meeting and likely approve its final budget in June.