Lebanon — City voters will be asked to approve a roughly 2 percent school budget increase at the upcoming deliberative session, after the School Board voted on Wednesday to move forward with its proposal for the 2018-19 school year.

The board voted, 6-1, to present voters with a $43.2 million budget, which amounts to about $900,000 over the current year’s spending.

However, that final budget number doesn’t include $680,000 that would be used to repair roofs at the Mount Lebanon School and the former Seminary Hill School, as well as to improve a softball field. That money will come from existing capital reserve funds.

Board members Richard Milius, Tammy Begin, Mary Davidson, Wendy Hall, Erin Madory and Adam Nemeroff voted to support the budget, while Chairman Jeff Peavey voted in opposition. Christina Haidari and Susan Louzier both abstained.

School officials estimate the budget would add about 94 cents per $1,000 of assessed value for the tax rate, which amounts to an additional $235 in taxes for a property valued at $250,000.

If the board’s proposed budget is rejected in March, a $42.8 million default budget would take effect, according to a draft warrant distributed to School Board members on Wednesday night.

During the meeting, board members negotiated $195,000 in cuts from the administration’s $43.4 million proposed budget in an attempt to reduce the number of new teaching positions at Lebanon schools.

Members took aim at proposals to hire a part-time enrichment teacher at the Mount Lebanon School, a fifth-grade teacher at Lebanon Middle School and efforts to convert two part-time receptionist positions to one full-time position at the high school.

They also disapproved of building an acoustic shell, meant to improve the acoustics of a performance space, at the middle school.

However, if the budget is passed by voters, district administrators will determine where the cuts will come from.

“I just don’t feel like we can keep coming back and tapping and tapping and tapping (taxpayers),” said Louzier, who recommended the board vote for a larger cut of $275,000.

Budget numbers are increased yearly and there’s sometimes little explanation as to why, she said, adding elderly citizens and those facing hard times will struggle to pay the district taxes.

“I understand the rationale behind the motion completely,” said Milius, who countered that much of the budget is tied to teaching contracts and fixed costs.

“My biggest fear is that doing this has a disproportionate impact on things that we value,” he said.

Ultimately, Louzier’s proposal failed, and the board compromised to reach the $195,000 cut.

Other staff changes — such as the addition of part-time French and science teachers at Lebanon Middle School, and a part-time French teacher at the high school — went unopposed.

Aside from the budget, the School Board reaffirmed warrant articles that will ask voters to approve two large building projects at Lebanon schools this year.

The School Board is asking for a $28.9 million bond to fund a renovation project that would provide district schools with new entrances, multipurpose spaces and classrooms. The project also would add a 650-seat auditorium and performing arts center at Lebanon High School.

The renovations are expected to total $30 million, but nearly $1 million of that is expected to come out of the district’s capital reserve funds. About $515,000 would be raised in taxes during the bond’s first year, if the warrant article can garner the 60 percent voter approval required under state law.

The district also will be asking voters to approve a 20-year contract with Trane Building Advantage to provide about $4.7 million in energy upgrades at the schools.

Trane, an energy consulting firm, would install new solar panels, heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems upfront under the deal, which would be financed by annual district budgets and paid for by money saved on energy costs.

Trane estimates the project would save about $7.3 million over the two-decade contract, with about $627,000 returned to school coffers over that time. If the vote passes, construction is expected to begin this summer.

The warrant also includes a new five-year collective bargaining agreement with the Lebanon Administrators’ Group, which represents principals and other school administrators. The agreement is expected to cost about $70,000 next year.

Other articles would add $300,000 to both the district’s special education trust fund and the construction and renovations capital reserve fund.

Those funds will come from money left over from this year, and won’t add to the tax rate.

Tim Camerato can be reached at tcamerato@vnews.com or 603-727-3223.