There have been some tweaks to Franklin Regional’s proposed final 2020-21 budget but, for taxpayers, it remains largely the same.

Despite expenditure reductions related to special education funding, fewer commissions on tax collections and no change in insurance premiums, which were expected to rise, the $61.31 million budget stands with a 2.54-mill tax hike.

District Finance Director Jon Perry said he was happy to see good news coming from the state legislature in the form of full-year education funding.

“A lot of areas received a partial budget, but K-12 education received full funding,” Perry said. “Obviously, we’d like to see increased funding from the state, but the fact that we received flat funding could be viewed as a win, given the circumstances.”

The district also will see $350,000 in additional safety and security funds, federal money that is passing through the state to put covid-19 mitigation measures in place.

“It’s difficult to say how we’ll spend those dollars and we’ll work to get some clarity over the next few weeks,” Perry said.

As far as the budget, however, the money will be a wash, as it is required to be spent on covid-19 response measures.

“We’ll see an increase in revenue, but also a corresponding increase on the expenditures side,” Perry said.

The board is scheduled to vote on the final 2020-21 budget at its June 15 meeting, set for 7:30 p.m.

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