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).
A quick question. Do the businesses in Adams County pay school taxes? If not, I think they should be contributing because they benefit as well from the educational systems in the county. If they do pay, Thank you for your support.
Why isn’t the new school in a more central part of Adams County? This would mean every school day students and busses would have to travel a busy highway and have to drive through the daily New Oxford traffic jam, twice? This location was not very well thought through.
My husband and I retired and moved to Pennsylvania believing it would be a more affordable, tax-friendly place to spend our retirement years. Instead, less than two years after moving to Adams County, Gettysburg, we are paying thousands of dollars more in combined property and school taxes than we paid in Carroll County, Maryland, where we owned a home nearly three times the size on more than two acres of land.
As senior citizens living on a fixed income, each tax increase has a very real impact on our daily lives. When taxes go up year after year, that money has to come from somewhere. It comes from our grocery budget, our ability to save for emergencies, and the simple pleasures we once enjoyed, such as taking an occasional vacation.
Many retirees are struggling under the weight of rising costs for housing, insurance, utilities, and healthcare. Adding another school tax increase for the third consecutive year places an even greater burden on those who have limited ability to increase their income. Elected officials need to remember that behind every tax increase are real people trying to make ends meet.
We support education, but there must be greater consideration given to the financial realities facing seniors and other residents living on fixed incomes.retirees who moved to Pennsylvania expecting affordability are finding themselves under increasing financial pressure. Please, decision makers get creative and show compassion and respect for those of us (seniors) who chose to move to your county and state for a better quality of life, only to find it increasingly an unattractive, unaffordable area to live. Friends and family who planned on joining us by moving to Gettysburg and surrounding area from Maryland New York have decided it’s not worth it and to stay in the area where they currently live
Agree with your comments. I’ve lived here as a resident four years (previously a tourist and volunteer during summers for years). I have to leave because I am now 65 yrs old and Medicare is going to keep going higher and we will have a proposed 23% cut in SSA within a few years. Meanwhile, hyperinflation in all groceries, utilities, etc, etc. This is the first place I’ve lived where I had to pay any school district tax! First time living on East Coast and I’ll say, This is Ridiculous! Definitely a “spending problem” and it’s been irresponsible for too long here. More money coming into this ‘small town’ (due to Battlefield tourist industry for 163 years!) yet doing worse than any other small town in many areas of this nation. Why is the “special education” program growing at a strong pace in Gettysburg?