Crestwood School Board approves final budget with 2.25% tax hike
The Crestwood School Board approved a $53.07 million final budget for the 2026-27 school year on Thursday with a 2.25% property tax increase.
The tax millage rate is set at 13.2089, or about $13.21 per $1,000 of assessed property value.
"We wanted to pass a structurally balanced budget," said Business Manager Tommy Benz, responding to a comment about the tax increase. "Since May, some expenses were adjusted, and additional revenue was added in the form of a few areas, but a tax increase is one of them."
The proposed budget was not structurally balanced, with a $1.4 million gap between $53.44 million in expenditures and $52.04 million in revenue before accounting for a potential tax increase.
In a presentation last week, Benz projected $53.11 million in expenditures and $52.58 million in revenue. He said the shortfall had been reduced to about $533,250 after accounting for confirmed and assumed expenditure reductions and revenue increases.
The 2.25% tax increase is expected to generate about $540,000 for the school district to close the gap and balance the budget.
Other updates
Acting Superintendent Kevin Seyer announced that second-round interviews for Crestwood's next superintendent will be held from 4 p.m. to about 8 p.m. on June 29.
Three cohorts of school district stakeholders will participate in the interview process: the school board, administration, faculty, and staff, and community members and parents who volunteered. Seyer said all three community members and all nine parents who volunteered were approved to join the cohort.
Brian Waite, a Fairview Twp. resident, Shenandoah Valley School District superintendent, and former Crestwood acting superintendent, was one of the community members selected.
"The most important decision facing the Crestwood School District will be the selection of its next superintendent," Waite said during the public comment, noting that the district has seen significant turnover in leadership recently.
"After years of transition, one of the greatest challenges facing the district is moving away from a model where leadership is primarily responding to immediate challenges and towards a model focused on proactive planning, innovation, and long-term improvement," he said.
The board also reappointed Shawn Gallagher as its treasurer for a one-year term and approved a $350,817.42 purchase for new servers and related equipment from Integra One.
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