State College board holds off on budget vote

The State College area school board postponed voting Monday on the preliminary budget for the next fiscal year.

Two board members, Dorothea Stahl and Gowen Roper, were absent, and Superintendent Bob O’Donnell asked that the vote be delayed until a meeting Feb. 18 in the hope the full school board would be present.

The board would consider a 3.2 percent tax increase to balance the $120 million budget. That could be an average increase of $85 for property owners.

The 3.2 percent is composed of a 1.7 percent increase under state law and a 1.5 percent increase the state allows toward the district’s contributions to the state teachers’ retirement system.