Northgate officials believe they are beginning to see the light at the end of the budget deficit tunnel, despite the fact that the state has denied part of the district’s request for property tax increases.

Under the Act 1 inflation index, Northgate is allowed to increase the millage rate by .5 mills in 2011-12. The district requested permission from the Pennsylvania Department of Educa-tion, however, to increase millage by 2.5 mills without having to comply with Act 1’s ballot referendum requirement.

School board finance committee chairman Daniel O’Keefe said at Monday’s board work session that some of the exceptions requested from the PDE had not been granted, and Northgate would be limited to a 1.6 mill tax increase in the coming year.

Administrators and board members have been busy cutting projected expenditures from the 2011-12 proposed budget, and committee chairs outlined those cuts for the many residents who attended the meeting.

In the area of building and grounds, chairman David Natale said that one vacant custodial position would be eliminated, and gasoline use would be cut to achieve a $5,000 savings at each of the district’s three buildings. A lawn care contract costing $6,400 already has bee cut, he said, and the capital projects budget will be cut from $200,000 to $100,000.

Under student affairs, Shirl Reinhart said that eliminating one guidance counselor position and sending one of three current high school counselors to Avalon Elementary would help achieve a $1 million reduction of costs in that area. A middle school reading specialist will not be replaced, she said, and the foreign language exploratory program -- which allows middle school students to learn a sampling of the languages offered in high school -- will be eliminated.

Committee member Shannon Smithey added that a retiring high school math teacher also would not be replaced, along with a Write to Read aide, and the district would eliminate adjunct teaching positions in favor of using less expensive substitutes for longterm openings.

The district will no longer pay for teachers’ professional development unless the training is requested by the district, Smithey said, and field trips costs will be eliminated on the same basis.

Both Reinhart and Smithery said that the very last cut to be considered would be for full-day kindergarten, despite the fact that the program is funded by a grant that has been eliminated in Gov. Tom Corbett’s proposed state budget.

“I think we’re going to have to pay a lot of money in remediation” if full-day kindergarten is cut, Smithey said.

Superintendent Dr. Reggie Bon-field reported that while administrators have agreed to salary freezes for the coming year, all unions in the district also have been asked not to take contractually guaranteed increases.

In addition, he said, the district’s transportation provider -- Roegnick -- has agreed to freeze rates for the coming year in exchange for a one-year contract extension.

Bonfield said that while personnel cuts were easier through attrition, there still may be furloughs before the budget is balanced, as the deficit stands at about $1.2 million even with the proposed cuts.

O’Keefe defended Northgate’s 27.6 millage rate, one of the highest in Allegheny County. He maintained that millage rates could not be compared among school districts because they produce different sums of revenue based on the community’s assessed property values. Instead, he said, he looked at the percentage change in millage rates over the last few years. By that evaluation, O’Keefe said, 25 county school districts increased taxes more than Northgate.