The Butler Area School District is finally digging out of years of red ink.

The school board recently learned the district finished a second consecutive school year with a positive fund balance. The $7.79 million balance for the 2018-19 school year comes just two years after the district closed the year $3.4 million in the red.

And on Monday, the board was told the district had an unassigned fund balance of slightly more than $8 million at the end of the 2018-19 fiscal year,

“You guys have a good management team,” Justin Vancheri, of the district’s auditing firm, told the board.

It is the second consecutive “clean” audit the district has received and should result in increasing the district’s bond and credit ratings.

Of course, this wouldn’t have been possible without a tax increase.

Last June, the district finalized a $104 million budget that raised taxes by 3.03 mills.

A key aim behind the tax increase was to establish both a $650,000 annual contribution to a capital projects fund and a $150,000 emergency reserve that school board directors hope will help the district overcome its sizable debt-load by avoiding future borrowing.

It also funded a slew of academic improvements, such as textbooks, three instructional coaches, a new guidance counselor, a behavioral therapist and a reconfiguration of gifted children’s programs, among other changes.

At the time, Superintendent Brian White said a tax increase was a necessity if the district ever was going to overcome its $131 million in debt.

The tax increase raises about $1.2 million annually. A mill of property tax generates $1 in revenue for each $1,000 of a property’s assessed value. A property assessed at $100,000 will pay about $300 more a year in taxes.

Of course, no one wants to pay more taxes, and the district must spend its money wisely in the future and continue to operate in the black.

The district’s students will ultimately benefit.