Although no binding vote will be taken until June, members of the Avonworth School Board said Monday that they believe that they can balance the coming year’s budget without increasing property taxes.

Avonworth has received permission from the Pennsylvania Department of Education to increase millage rates by .89 mills, according to director of fiscal management Brad Waters. The tax hike would have produced about $600,000 in revenue, he said.

The tax increase would provide less than half the revenue needed to make up a projected $1.3 million deficit in the 2011-12 budget, but officials believe savings, program cuts, wage freezes and employee furloughs will be enough not only to balance the budget, but maintain full-day kindergarten and move ahead with a $20 million primary center building project.

A good part of the expected tax increase revenue will come from the $480,000 savings that resulted from refinancing the district’s bonds last fall. That money originally was to be allocated to the primary center project. Instead, Waters said, the board asked if it could be used to offset part of the budget deficit.

The board already has approved the elimination of 15 instructional aide positions that, even with the creation of two others, will net Avonworth a savings of about $220,000 in the coming fiscal year. Cuts in athletic and other student activities, along with salary freezes affecting administrators as well as possible teachers, are other measures currently being considered by the board.

Additional savings could come as a result of a voluntary retirement incentive approved Monday by the school board for teachers with a minimum of 15 years of service with the district. The teachers must retire at the end of the current school year, and will receive payments for hospitalization, medical, and prescription insurance. The amounts paid will range from a maximum of $493 per month for a period of 10 years, to a maximum of $800 per month for a period of six years.