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KINGSTON &mdash; In a brief, in-person meeting held in a small conference room at the Middle School, the Wyoming Valley West School Board approved a final budget Tuesday morning for 2020-21 with no tax increase, a sharp contrast to the preliminary final budget passed in May that proposed a 3.7 percent tax increase.
				Business Manager Lou Cardoni said the new budget has a lot of ifs, both because of uncertainty regarding how much the pandemic-caused economic slowdown decreases local tax revenue and because the state faces the same fiscal concerns. The cost of responding to the COVID-19 pandemic when school re-opens is also up in the air.
				He noted the district starts the year with a negative fund balance that had to be covered, but that the budget approved Tuesday could end up with about $100,000 in reserve at the end of next June if all things work out.
				While the district faces lower local revenue and a lack of reserves, there was a bright spot. Cardoni said Wyoming Valley West is getting about $1.8 million through the federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act designed to prop up many parts of the economy during theCOVID-19 pandemic. &ldquo;That will help a great deal,&rdquo; he said.
				The budget expects to spend almost $84.4 million and keeps property taxes at 17.29 mills. A mill is a $1 tax for every $1,000 of assessed property value.
				The special meeting had to be called Tuesday because, by state law, school districts must pass a final budget by June 30.
				There were three appointments on the agenda that were also approved: Tom Evans as high school assistant principal at $65,000 a year starting salary, Jeff Craig assistant principal at State Street Elementary at $65,000, and Laura Thomas as a State Street kindergarten teacher at $44,705

Wyoming Valley West passes budget with no tax hike