The projected budget gap between revenues and expenses in Pottstown Area School District has been brought down to $5.1 million, from a previous estimate of more than $9 million. Increasing taxes by the state maximum of 5.8% would close the gap further to $3.4 million, according to district business manager Maureen Oakley. Potential cuts on the table for the district’s $96.4 million 2025-2026 budget include all four district librarians, halving the number of elementary school counselors and not replacing a retiring music teacher. The use of some district surplus funds is also on the table, but out of $27.8 million in reserves, only $6.8 million is available to close the budget deficit. If a 5.8% tax increase is implemented, the average residential property assessed at about $70,000 would see an annual tax increase of $192. School Board Member Deborah Spence noted that Pottstown has “a huge footprint of private schools, churches and the hospital,” which pay no property taxes. “If we calculated what we would get from that footprint, we would not be where we are.”
Source: Pottstown Mercury; 4/11/2025