BUFFALO TWP — Members of the Freeport Area School Board unanimously approved a preliminary operating fund budget for the 2025-26 school year during a special meeting on Wednesday, May 7.

Any potential tax increase is still under discussion by the board.

The combined local, state and federal revenues are currently at $39,062,373. Meanwhile, expenses for the preliminary budget checked in at $39,492,599.

“Our worst case scenario, as of today, is anticipated to be a $450,000 operating deficit,” said Brad Walker, the school’s finance director.

To offset that cost, Walker said the district would again pull from the fund balance, which is expected to contain about $6.4 million at the end of this school year.

A final vote to approve the 2025-26 budget is scheduled to take place at an upcoming board meeting scheduled for Wednesday, June 11.

The Butler Eagle previously reported that the school district has had mixed success in recent years with keeping its budget balanced.

For a four-year period from 2018 to 2022, Freeport faced a budget deficit, but the school has operated in a surplus in each of the past two years.

In the midst of balancing their budget going into next year, school officials have weighty decisions to make about a possible multimillion dollar renovation project at the high school.

While discussions have been ongoing for the last two-and-a-half years, officials previously said there would be a vote on any renovations later this month.

One option includes a partial renovation and a total roof replacement for $25.5 million. The other is an all-encompassing $55 million project that includes general construction, along with HVAC, plumbing and electrical construction.

Both options would likely force the board to raise millage rates over the next three years, although it’s unclear how much of an increase taxpayers would face.

“As of right now, the increased cost for any repair or renovation is not built into this budget,” Walker said.

Adding to the dilemma is that there are certain renovations, most notably a full-scale sewage system renovation, that cannot be delayed any longer, according to Walker.

In mid-April, a CJL Engineering representative labeled Freeport’s sewage situation as a “complete system failure.”

“We’ve had mitigations put in place over the past two to three years to help mitigate all the issues,” Walker said. “However, the board wishes to proceed with a larger scale fix.”

A professional plumbing engineer estimated that the sewer system repairs will cost about $3.1 million.

Walker said he recommends that any renovations, including the roof and sewer system, be accompanied by a millage increase in this year’s budget.

“At this time, we can balance the budget without increasing the local tax effort,” he said. “However, if the board wants to move forward with repairs and renovations next school year or in the future, my recommendation is to begin layering in that millage now to avoid a sharp increase down the road.”