When: Columbia Borough school board meeting, March 4.

What happened: Columbia Borough School District Business Manager Keith Ramsey presented a preview of the 2025-26 budget at this month’s committee workshop session. As a key point in the budget development process, Ramsey explained the various steps taken to evaluate and measure the funds needed for the district to be successful in the upcoming academic year.

The current proposed expenditure for the 2025-26 year is $33.7 million, while projected revenue is $33.2 million, a 2.2% increase from last year. The school board’s prior decision to use a block grant to mitigate the levying of property taxes and the use of district funds to match the block grant led to a 3% tax reduction, with a projected millage rate of 25.66 mills. This marks the sixth year in a row that Columbia has experienced no tax increase.

Next steps: Subsequent budget updates will be provided at the April 8 and May 6 committee meetings. The board will vote on whether to adopt the proposed final budget on May 15 and, if this budget is approved, will be adopted on June 19.

Schedule change: At the conclusion of the meeting, representative Kathleen Hohendael requested that the next full board meeting be moved up from April 17, as this date coincides with Holy Thursday. The board approved moving this meeting date to Tuesday, April 15.

What’s next: The school board will meet at 6 p.m. March 20, in the district administration building, 200 N. Fifth Street. A committee workshop meeting will be held at 6 p.m. April 8 at the same location.