Gettysburg Area School District’s Board of Directors, in a split vote, raised taxes for the 2026-27 school year by 3.5%. Business Manager Belinda Wallen said the average taxpayer will incur a $112.35 increase in their annual bill, based on an assessed value of $279,555.
The district will allocate 2.5% of the increase to its general operating budget and 1% to a future land purchase and related construction costs for Adams County Technical Institute.
Monday’s vote ended months of discussion by the board—many of whom took office in December — on how to move forward amid rising costs.
Tim Seigman, Al Moyer, Ryan Kerney, Kathleen Pratt, Alice Broadway, and Michael Dickerson voted for the proposal recommended by administrators. Justine Sieg, Donna Harrison, and David Sites opposed it.
Other options called for tax increases of 2.9% or 4.12%.
As she has several times before, Wallen noted the cost of special education is on the rise. Gettysburg Area School District is serving 5.68% more special education students than it did five years ago, a rate higher than the state and national averages.
“Special education is, by far, outpacing itself,” Wallen said. “It is an area we cannot control costs.”
Wallen noted that the district expects to spend $1.6 million more this fiscal year on special education than is budgeted.
None of the board members who opposed the proposal clearly stated why.
Earlier in the meeting, Sites and Pratt acknowledged that a tax increase was necessary. The 3.5% option was the first placed on the table for a vote and since it received support from the majority of the board, votes were not cast for the other two options.
“We don’t have a spending problem, we have a revenue problem,” Pratt said prior to the vote.
Sites urged Wallen to present a plan soon on how the district will dig out of “the hole” it is in. He has also, at other meetings, chastised previous boards for not raising taxes for the general fund while expenses climbed.
ACTI
The board’s vote Monday was the third consecutive year the board raised taxes 1% for the future expansion of Adams County Technical Institute. Director Sean Eckenrode told the board Monday that those plans are coming to fruition.
ACTI is under contract to purchase 6298 York Road for $1.7 million and a $200,000 donation to the ACTI Undesignated Endowment.
Adams County Board of Commissioners awarded ACTI a $500,000 grant using COVID-19 relief funds, bringing the total land purchase cost to $1.2 million. Gettysburg will pay 35.56%, or $426,720, of that total. Other districts contributing are: Bermudian Springs (12.84%), Conewago Valley (26.70%), Fairfield (9.79%), and Littlestown (15.11%).
ACTI Articles of Agreement state costs are divided amongst districts using “market-value-to-personal-income aid ratio,” a method the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania uses to determine the wealth of a district.
Eckenrode said constructing a school on the property is estimated to cost $70 million. Sites asked the school to provide estimated costs to prepare the site for construction and outfit the building once complete.
The board will vote on whether to accept the purchase agreement at its June 15 meeting.
Featured Photo Caption: Gettysburg Area School District (GASD) Superintendent Dr. Jeffrey Matzner and the GASD School Board recognized retiring staff at the board meeting Monday. Pictured from left to right are: Amanda Petroccia, Tarja Wilson, Sharon Martin, Tamela Becker, Angie Hughes, Christina Cooley, Michael Ginter, and Lesley Woodward. (Photo Courtesy of GASD).
