In accordance with Act 1, the Neshaminy School Board unanimously approved the proposed preliminary budget for the 2013-2014 school year Tuesday night. The budget currently has a $11,439,001 deficit.

Superintendent Robert Copeland assured the community that this is "very preliminary" and that he and district administrators will be taking a new approach to putting together the budget -- an approach he is bringing from his experience in previous school districts.

"We’re taking a very close look at every single department and budget item," he stated, adding that he and the administration "really scrubbed the budget very thoroughly."

"What you see here is a first run. We still have a lot of work to do," Copeland said.

Business administrator Barbara Markowitz stated that the school board has until the end of June to approve a final budget.

According to the proposed preliminary budget, expenditures for the next school year are about $171 million, while revenues are only about $160 million.

A homeowner with the average residential assement of $27,587 will pay $4,193 in taxes in 2013-2014, according to district figures.

In order to balance the 2012-13 budget, the school board utilized spending cuts and delays suggested by district administrators as well as borrowing about $5.5 million from the district's reserves, which left about $9.5 million in the district's savings.