Mifflinburg school leaders consider 1% tax hike amid reassessment concerns

Mifflinburg Area School Board is weighing a 1% school-tax increase even as Union County reassessment work threatens to change which property owners carry more of the load. For a household with a $1,000 school-tax bill, that step would mean about $10 more a year before any reassessment shift is figured in.

The nine-member elected board, which serves four-year terms and oversees educational programs, personnel, properties and curriculum, has already seen the district move through several budget scenarios. Earlier Mifflinburg budget headlines included a proposed $40.5 million plan with a 1.75% tax increase, another with a 3.25% increase and an altered per capita tax, and a later $40.5 million budget approved with no tax increase. That pattern shows the board is trying to keep operations funded without locking in a bigger tax jump than residents can bear.

Reassessment is the wildcard. Union County had set a Re-Assessment Public Meeting for Thursday, May 14, 2026, from 6 to 8 p.m. at Mifflinburg High School Auditorium, and county materials also include a page headed Data Collection Begins. When assessments change, the school district can keep the same rate and still shift the burden from one parcel to another, which means a modest tax increase can land very differently on two homes that sit on the same street.

That matters in Mifflinburg because the school budget is not driven by one line item. Classroom staffing, utilities, transportation and special education costs all keep rising, and district revenue has already been vulnerable to assessment-related decisions. A related Mifflinburg tax ruling was projected to cut school revenue by $26,000, underscoring how the district can lose money even when the millage rate does not change. The question now is whether the board is covering unavoidable operating costs, trying to offset reassessment distortion, or doing both at once.

Mifflinburg is not alone in that calculation. Lewisburg school leaders have floated 2.4% and 3.5% tax increases, and Mifflin County School District approved a .5-mill tax increase for the 2026-27 budget on June 26. In Union County, the larger issue is not just how much school leaders want to raise taxes, but how reassessment may decide who pays it. The nine-member Mifflinburg Area School Board is the body asking residents to absorb that uncertainty.