Pittston Area holds taxes flat as state aid outlook remains unsettled

Pittston Area School District approved its 2026-27 budget without raising property taxes, but the district’s financial outlook remains tied in part to how much new state funding it ultimately receives.

The school board approved the final budget on June 16, keeping taxes flat for the sixth consecutive year. The action came before Pennsylvania enacted its 2026-27 state budget on July 12.

A $68.7 million budget with a projected gap

The adopted Pittston Area plan lists approximately $68.7 million in spending and about $67.8 million in projected revenue. That leaves a projected shortfall of $921,210 for the coming school year.

The figure is a budget projection, not a final year-end deficit. District business manager Tom Melone cited higher costs for health care, cyber charter tuition, career and technical center enrollment, and supplies, including new Chromebooks.

For property owners in Pittston and the other communities served by the district, the immediate takeaway is that the adopted school budget does not add a property-tax increase. The unresolved question is how the district will close the projected gap after final state aid is calculated.

What the district expected from Pennsylvania

When the school board approved its budget, district officials were counting on higher state subsidies. Melone said the budget assumptions included:

$105,700 in additional basic education funding;
$134,026 in additional special education funding; and
$1,240,436 in additional adequacy funding.

Together, those estimates totaled approximately $1.48 million, more than the projected shortfall. But the figures were estimates made before Pennsylvania enacted its final budget.

Melone said the district could reassess expenses if final subsidies were lower than expected. The district also expected to end the 2025-26 school year with an estimated fund balance of $8.86 million, according to local budget coverage.

What Pennsylvania enacted July 12

On July 12, Gov. Josh Shapiro signed Pennsylvania’s 2026-27 budget into law. The state said the budget increases education funding by more than $678 million overall, including $565 million through adequacy and tax-equity funding, $58 million in basic education funding, and $55 million in special education funding.

Those statewide increases change the context for Pittston Area’s adopted budget, but they do not establish the district’s final allocation by themselves. The amount Pittston Area receives will depend on Pennsylvania’s allocation formulas and the district-level figures issued by the Pennsylvania Department of Education.

What residents should watch next

The next important documents are the final Pennsylvania Department of Education allocation workbooks and any subsequent Pittston Area financial updates. Those records should show whether the district receives the state aid built into its budget assumptions and whether the projected $921,210 shortfall narrows.

Until those figures are available, two budget facts are confirmed: Pittston Area held property taxes flat for a sixth straight year, and its adopted spending plan contains a projected gap that depends in part on state funding.

Readers can monitor the Pennsylvania Department of Education’s education-budget page and the Pittston Area School District Board of Education page for allocation records and later district updates.

Sources

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