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At its June 15 meeting, the Lebanon school board approved a $131,244,944 budget for the fiscal year beginning July 1 that will result in a 3.43 % property tax increase, or an extra $86 annual tax payment for a property with the city’s average assessed value of $105,000.
The board set the 2026-’27 tax rate at 24.37 mills, or $24.37 of tax for every $1,000 of a property’s assessed value. The vote was 8 to 1 in favor, with board member William Eckenroth casting the lone no vote.
“Everyone knows we have a housing crisis in the city. Housing here is unaffordable,” Eckenroth said before the roll call vote. “And soon, these tax hikes are going to cause property owners to start rioting in the streets and cause small businesses to close their doors. … I can’t support a tax hike in this budget.”
Based on the city’s tax base, the lowest in Lebanon County, each mill generates $765,000 of tax revenue, which makes up just over 14% of next year’s budget, according to Kelly Herr, the district’s chief financial officer. The balance, according to Herr, has to come from state and federal aid.
In an email to LebTown, accompanied by the chart below, Herr said the city has “the lowest taxable assessed values in Lebanon County, which means that we need to raise our taxes by 4.36 mills to equal one mill in the District with the highest taxable assessed value in the County (District A). In dollars and cents, one mill generates $765,000 for our District, but generates $3.3 million for District A.”
Herr said that “the property tax increase is needed for the forward funding of future debt to be borrowed for both the 1400 Chestnut Street project and our share of the renovation and building costs at the [Lebanon County Career and Technology Center].”
1400 Chestnut St. is the former Lebanon Catholic School property purchased in 2025 by the district for $5.25 million. Buildings on the property were recently demolished. District superintendent Nicole Malinoski said at the time of the purchase that the district intends to use the land “for future educational and administrative offices.”
After adopting the budget, the school board rejected, 8 to 1, proposed revisions to the Lebanon County Career and Technology Center Articles of Agreement, which defines the rights and responsibilities of the six participating Lebanon County school districts.
Board president Robert Okonak said the majority did not favor the formula in the revised articles that sets each member district’s contribution to the proposed CTC building and renovation project. The board also objected to a requirement that a district give at least two fiscal years’ notice of intent to withdraw from the LCCTC.
Eckenroth was the only vote in favor, saying, “I think we can afford the numbers in these articles if we budget carefully. And I think the long-term fallout from rejecting these articles would cause steep tax hikes long-term.”
Other business
At the start of the meeting, the board and those in attendance observed a moment of silence in memory of Keith Varney, the district’s head athletic trainer since 2012. He died on June 8 after a lifelong fight against cystic fibrosis.
According to his obituary, visitation will be held at the Lebanon High School Auditorium from 2 to 4 p.m. on Monday, June 22, followed by a celebration of his life.
In other action, the board approved the inductions of Keith Rolon, Erin Winters, and Ned Pantelich into the district’s Athletic Hall of Fame, and of Suzanne Caldwell Riehl, Fred Erdman, and Dr. J. Ross Albert into its Music Hall of Fame.
Before adjourning and going into a closed executive session, the board approved a variety of contracts and expenditures for equipment and services including special education and technology contracts, food service, insurance, and change orders for ongoing construction work, including asbestos removal, at the Lebanon Intermediate School.
The Lebanon school board’s next meetings will be on Monday, July 20 and Monday, Aug. 15, both at 7 p.m. at Lebanon High School, 1000 S. 8th St. Second monthly committee of the whole meetings will not be held in July and August.
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