After two failed rounds of voting, the Gettysburg Area School District Board of Directors had to phone a friend to pass its 2025-26 budget. District residents will incur a 1% property tax increase, which will be solely used to fund the future expansion of Adams County Technical Institute.
The board considered two options: a budget with a 1% tax increase, which ultimately passed, or one with a 1.5% increase. District administration recommended the latter.
Board members Alice Broadway and Al Moyer supported the administrators’ recommendation, stating that they feared not increasing taxes for district operations would lead to a larger increase in future years.
Board President Kenny Hassinger disagreed because the district has realized a surplus when the annual audit is finalized during his 7.5 years on the board.
The first vote, for a 1.5% tax increase, failed with Broadway and Moyer in support. Members Kathleen Pratt and Jeremy Davis were absent.
During a discussion about a budget with a 1% tax increase, Tim Seigman seemed to support Broadway and Morris’ arguments despite his votes doing otherwise.
“I’d rather do a little bit and make it easier on everybody to take it than slam everybody at one time,” Seigman said.
Seigman, Michael Dickerson, Ryan Morris, and Hassinger voted in favor of the budget proposal with a 1% tax increase. Michelle Smyers, Broadway, and Moyer opposed it. A successful vote requires the support of the majority of all members, which is five votes.
In an unusual move, Dickerson left the room, and Hassinger soon followed. The two emerged to announce they had Davis on the phone, and he was ready to vote. Broadway and Moyer repeated their positions but the 1% proposal ultimately passed with Davis in favor.
GAEF Funding
Davis emerging from abstentia was not the only unusual part of Monday’s meeting. Until Smyers pointed it out, Hassinger claimed he was unaware that both budget proposals zeroed out a $25,000 donation to Gettysburg Area Education Foundation for its executive director’s salary.
“Unless I missed that in any of our board meetings, that’s not at all what I came in here expecting to hear,” Hassinger said.
He did miss it. During the June 2 meeting, at which Hassinger was present, Business Manager Belinda Wallen informed the board that the foundation’s funding was cut in the proposals. Broadway proposed funding the foundation at some level. However, no one on the board spoke up in support of Broadway’s advocacy.
Two weeks later, Hassinger directed Wallen to fund the donation.
Alex J. Hayes has spent almost two decades in the Adams County news business. He is passionate about sharing stories focused on the people in our communities and following local governments in an age when few journalists report on their meetings. Alex is also a freelance writer for several other publications in South Central Pennsylvania. Alex encourages readers to contact him at ahayes83@gmail.com.
The board raised our school tax last year and again this year and probably next year too. WHY is there more public concern and outcry. The board is suppose to look for ways to save through waist and over spending. Raising taxes every year is the easy way out!