KARNS CITY — The Karns City School District is paring a $121,000 deficit for its proposed 2016-2017 budget that includes a property tax increase for Butler County taxpayers.

The budget by Deana Turner, director of business affairs, is for $23.3 million with $23.4 million in expenditures, leaving a projected deficit of $121,354.

Of that revenue, about $6.3 million comes from local property taxes, Turner said. Total local revenue, including the property tax, is projected to be about $7.5 million.

Another projected $15.4 million will come from the state. A little less than $400,000 will come from federal revenue by Turner’s projections.

The budget includes a property tax increase for all three counties served by the district: Butler, Allegheny and Clarion. The tax increase in Butler is proposed at 1.79 mills, close to the maximum increase allowed by the state for the district, according to Superintendent Eric Ritzert.

The district’s tax rate for the county for the 2015-2016 school year is 87.1 mills, which may increase to 88.89 for next school year.

The district’s average assessed value in Butler County is $11,716, meaning the average tax payment this school year is $1,017, potentially increasing to a $1,041 tax payment, Ritzert said.

The average taxpayer increase is about $24 for Butler County property owners. Districtwide, the potential tax increase averages to $28 more in the 2016-2017 school year.

More than 65 percent of the budget goes for the 161 employees’ salaries and benefits, including 114 teachers. Outsourced professional services make up another 25 percent of the budget.

Ritzert said he would estimate that only a fraction of the school’s budget is actually up to the discretion of the board.

“We probably have about 10 percent of the budget that is discretionary in nature,” he said. “The rest of the budget is obligated either through contracts or required service agreements that are needed to educate the students.”

In that discretionary amount, the proposed budget accounts for a technology budget of about $625,000, down about $46,000.

The budget includes roof repairs at all three buildings: Chicora and Sugarcreek elementary schools and the Karns City High School, Ritzert said.

Those repairs would cost about $500,000.

Another major cost next year is $120,000 for a curriculum update for a reading series from kindergarten to sixth grade, called the Journey Series.

Ritzert stressed the district is working to continue trimming the deficit.

“I’m comfortable with taking that ($121,000) out of the fund balance if we need to,” he said. “We have to make sure we control costs that we can control.”

Turner anticipates the district will start the 2016-2017 school year with about $4.5 million in fund balance, so if the district uses the reserves to balance the budget, it will drop to roughly $4.4 million.

The board is expected to vote Monday on the preliminary budget.

The board will vote on the final budget June 20, since the district is required to pass a budget by June 30.