ADAMS TWP — Mars Area School Board approved the district’s final 2023-24 budget Tuesday, June 13, including a 4.15-mill real estate tax increase.

“For the final budget, no one ever wants to recommend a tax increase, but we’re outgrowing ourselves to the point that we have specific needs relative to increasing our capacity in our buildings,” superintendent Mark Gross said.

The increase includes salaries for 16 new district employees to meet those needs in addition to the anticipated expansion of the Mars Area Primary Center and Mars Area Elementary School.

“We receive very little federal funding or state funding,” Gross said. “Unfortunately, at Mars, to generate revenue for the future project for the expansion of buildings, that’s going to come from local sources, because that’s pretty much our major funding source.”