JACKSON TWP — Property owners in the Seneca Valley School District could see a 5-mill property tax increase for the next school year.

The proposed 2006-07 budget would be $84.4 million, an 8.3-percent increase over the current $79.5 million budget. Should school board members vote to approve the 5 mill increase, the property tax rate would rise from 120.39 to 125.39 mills.

The 5-mill increase would cost the average homeowner an additional $75 a year in real estate taxes. An average house is one that has $200,000 market value.

The tax increase would generate an additional $1.77 million for the district.

Business manager Lynn Stewart announced the administration's budget recommendation to the school board Monday night. Stewart said the increase would still leave the budget more than $8 million short, but savings in the fund balance and in budgetary reserve, plus nearly $1.5 million which is in the hospitalization and retirement accounts, will make up for the deficit.

The hospitalization and retirement accounts can only be used for those purposes. Stewart said that $1.5 million would help cover the $685,000 increase in hospitalization costs and $783,000 increase in retirement contributions for staff next year.

Other increases that would cause taxes to go up include:

n Salary increases for existing staff, which is up $1.3 million over this year

• New staff and faculty positions, which include two secondary education teachers, 2.6 special education teachers, a half-time para-professional in the technology department, five special education para-professionals, and one custodian

• An increase of $454,000 in student transportation costs, and

• An overall increase in tuition payments, including a $294,000 increase in payments to cyber schools attended by students who live in the Seneca Valley district.

Administrators proposed a 5-mill increase last year for the 2005-06 budget, but settled on 2.8 mills. Board members must approve a preliminary 2006-07 budget by the end of May and a final budget by the end of June.

A mill brings in $1 in tax for every $1,000 of a home's assessed value. Seneca Valley administrators expect a mill to bring in $355,000 next year from all taxpayers, up from $346,000 in the current budget.