KARNS CITY — The Karns City School District has approved a preliminary budget for the 2016-17 school year that puts the deficit at just $14,000.

The board voted May 9 to approve the $23.3 million budget.

With revenues and expenses nearly equal, Deana Turner, director of business affairs, said, “We’re almost level-funded.”

Of the district’s $23.3 million in revenue, about $6.3 million comes from local property taxes, Turner said. Total local revenue, including the property tax, is projected to be $7.5 million. Another projected $15.4 million will come from the state.

The budget includes a property tax increase for all three counties in the district: Butler, Armstrong and Clarion. The tax increase in Butler is 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 2015-16 school year is 87.1 mills, which will increase to 88.89 next school year.

The district’s average assessed value of a house in Butler County is $11,716, meaning the average tax payment this school year is $1,017, which will increase to $1,041 in 2016-17, Ritzert said.

The average taxpayer increase is about $24 for Butler County property owners. Districtwide, the potential tax increase averages $28 in the 2016-17 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.

The district will have two teachers retiring after this school year — an elementary teacher and an elementary learning support teacher. They will not be replaced due to declining enrollment, Turner said.

She estimates this will save the district roughly $200,000 in salaries and benefits.

Any expenses beyond the incoming revenue for 2016-17 would be taken out of the fund balance.

“I’m comfortable with taking that (deficit) 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 2016-17 school year with about $4.5 million in fund balance, so if the district uses the reserves to balance the budget, it would not drop substantially.

The board will vote June 20 on the final budget.