For the last two years, Farrell Area School District administrators have presented a tentative budget for public perusal at their regular May meeting.

Not this year.

School board members have received only preliminary figures and even though the board set budget meetings for every week until a budget is passed, Superintendent Richard R. Rubano said he doubted a budget would be ready to present at the first meeting Monday.

Administrators still are holding out hope the state will come through with more money, either by increasing the subsidy -- this year's proposed rate is a mere 1 percent -- or continuing Stressed 7 funding for another year.

The stressed schools allotment, for schools with rapid drops in property valuation, has pumped $158,000 a year for the last several years into Farrell.

The program was designed to last four years and started with $1.3 million, with the subsidy being cut in half each year. It has continued at the last year's figure for another three years.

"Any additional money is a bonus to us," said Rubano.

Rubano would not let on how far apart projected expenses and revenue are, but noted the district has been "living" off its fund balance in recent years. That trend won't continue long.

The fund balance stood at $2.3 million in 1996, but was down to $365,281 at the end of the last school year, according to the district's last audit. This year's budget proposed spending another $159,129 of the fund balance.

The board has increased the property tax rate by a total of 8 percent over the last two years.

"A lot of difficult decisions are going to have to be made," Rubano said.

The district also has not reached an estimate on what a new teachers contract will cost.

"It's progressing on various nonmonetary issues," board solicitor James Nevant II said of negotiations. "I expect the financial (issues) will be coming up shortly. Obviously, we have to get a handle on the budget."

The five-year contract with the 95 teachers ends June 30. Negotiations began in January.

The board will meet at 6 p.m. each Monday -- except for a Memorial Day shift to May 28 -- until a budget is finalized.

State law requires school budgets be adopted by June 30, and tentative budgets must be available for 30 days of public display before a final draft can be approved.