Grove City Area School Board will tap the district's savings to shave next year's real-estate tax hike to 1 mill.

Board members Monday unanimously rejected a proposed $24 million budget for next year and asked Superintendent Dr. Robert Post if there were any way the proposed 45.3-mill levy could be trimmed.

Post said $150,000 -- the value a mill of property tax brings the district -- could be taken from district's reserve fund balance and the spending plan would then need to be supported by a levy of 44.3 mills, a hike of 1 mill over this year.

But, Post reminded the board it already agreed to eliminate some of its property tax revenue and still has an obligation to provide a quality education. "Last month we approved a $35,000 reduction in property taxes for KOZ (Keystone Opportunity Zone) to improve the quality of life in Grove City. I believe that we as a community ... have an obligation to all of our children."

A mill is $1 for every $1,000 of assessed property value; assessments are a property's 1970 market value. At 44.3 mills, a property assessed at $30,000 would carry a tax bill of $1,329, about $30 more than this year.

The district includes Grove City and Pine, Springfield, Liberty and Wolf Creek townships.

Post and board members cited a $425,000 -- 27 percent -- increase in teachers' health-care insurance premiums over this year as the main reason for the tax hike. Payments to the teachers retirement fund have also tripled, Post said.

The proposed budget includes no new spending, Post said.

Board members voted 6-to-1 to accept the proposed budget with a 1-mill increase. Directors Leonard Clarke, Doug Thomas, Kevin Siebold, Jane Rath, Robert Montgomery and Stephen Gould voted for the budget; Sue Schepp opposed. Directors James Crow and Dr. Sharon Shipton were absent.