SLIPPERY ROCK TWP — The Slippery Rock School Board on Monday night approved the district’s 2015-16 budget with a 2.89-mill increase in property tax.

The increase raises the tax rate from 92.77 to 95.66 mills. The general fund budget is $30.4 million, up from $29.3 million for the school year that will end next Tuesday.

A mill generates $1 in tax for every $1,000 of a property’s assessed value.

On May 18, the board approved a preliminary budget with a 3.6-mill increase. However, several teacher retirements helped the district lower that figure slightly, district business manager Paul Cessar said.

The tax increase was needed to cover an additional $270,000 in employee pension costs and to hire two new teachers.

Pension costs will be a large factor in the budget for years to come. Cessar said he anticipates that the 2016-17 budget will be the last one to see such a significant increase.

Slippery Rock will hire one new guidance counselor for the district’s two elementary schools and one new teacher for gifted education and English as a second language.

Instead of one guidance counselor covering both elementary schools, there will now be one for each building.

The district also plans to install wireless networks in both elementary schools for $54,601. It will spend $40,236 for 120 new Google Chromebooks — 30 for each elementary school and 60 for the high school.

Both expenses will come out of the district’s fund balance, which is about $4.5 million, Cessar said.

Superintendent Alfonso Angelucci praised the board for being responsible stewards of the district’s finances.

“This budget definitely shows a commitment by this board to instructional technology as we pointed out with the wireless that’s now going into the elementary. It’s a big positive step for the district,” he said.

Under state law, the maximum tax rate increase the district could pass for next year was 3.88 mills, Cessar said.

For the third consecutive year, enrollment is expected to stay steady in the district, Cessar said.

The general enrollment trend since 2000 has been downward. In 2000 the district had about 2,600 students and in 2015 it anticipates 2,025.