Seneca Valley DME

JACKSON TWP -- Seneca Valley residents will officially see a 5.53-mill tax increase for the 2025-26 academic year.

The district’s school board voted unanimously to approve a $179.86 million budget at its Monday, June 9, meeting, which will set next year’s millage rate at 143.85 mills, a 4% increase. A mill is equal to $1 for every $1,000 of a property’s assessed value.

The district’s budget is the largest in Butler County.

The finalized budget has expected revenue set at $177.57 million, a deficit of about $2.29 million that will be covered by pulling funds from the existing fund balance. The 2025-26 year’s district expenditures are an increase of about $9.67 million from the previous year.

In response to several community members who spoke out Monday evening against the tax increase, board member Tim Hester said one reason for increased spending from the district is due to uncertainty over future federal funding.

Hester said with concerns federal funds could be cut that support the district’s breakfast and lunch programs, as well as programs that support students with special needs, the district is “obligated to take care of every child within the community.”

“I’ve looked very closely at the budget... We’ve got as much as we possibly can out of it,” Hester said. “There are things that aren’t under our control. Contracts, staffing, things like that, that we can’t cut any further on. There are also things we’re not sure about, with the way the federal government is, we’re not sure if we’re going to get our funding for our programs.”

Hester said if the programs lose funding, the district would have to step up to fill the gap.

“There is a chance that could be cut and we’d have to take that over. So I think we need to be prepared to watch out for our kids and make sure that our kids are taken care of. And we need to do everything we can as a community,” Hester said.

Board President Eric DiTullio said increased funding is also based on long-term plans for the district. He said there are some fixes to existing buildings that need made and other, older district buildings will need to be replaced with new, bigger ones. With approximately 7,400 students already in the entire district, DiTullio said the district expects a 10% growth in size of the student body over the next decade.

DiTullio also said increased spending accounts for unexpected cost increases the district’s previous long term plans didn’t account for.

“We’ve had a 15 to 20 year plan in place for a while to make sure we are doing the right thing. We’ve had some things happen, 20% increase on transportation costs, 20% increase on medical costs, that weren’t figured into the long-term plan, because they were supposed to be, according to the experts, 6, 8, 10%, not what we’ve seen,” DiTullio said. “So making sure we’re doing that in a reasonable and responsible way is important.”

In the finalized budget proposal, personnel costs, such as salaries and benefits, represent 72.66% of operating expenses. Healthcare premium rates will increase by 18.82% for medical and 5.78% for dental, an expenditure increase schools around Butler County have had to deal with this budget season. Student transportation service costs are increased by approximately $1.4 million.