Jun 24, 2014 1 min read

Fort Cherry School Board passed a 2014-15 district budget Monday night that includes a 2.5-mill tax increase.

The board approved the $16.8 million budget 7-1 with a tax increase that equates to an extra $25 per year for the average homeowner in the district. Board member Joanne Wagner voted no, and Larry Heirendt was absent.

The increase brings the total millage rate to 123.5, with the biggest contributing factors being retirement obligations and increases in medical coverage.

Business manager Paul Sroka said retirement fees were “the single biggest line-item increase,” at about $341,000. Medical coverage accounted for a 3.5 percent increase in the budget.

Sroka said the board opted to maintain class-size reductions in the elementary school by retaining a third-grade teacher’s position that otherwise would not have been filled.

Also at the meeting, elementary principal Jill Jacoby was appointed to serve as acting superintendent for the 2014-15 school year.