A room full of residents looking for answers to the Northgate School District’s financial problems didn’t get them at Monday’s school board meeting.

With no budget discussion on the agenda, the issue was left to the taxpayers who attended to stress their concerns over another proposed tax hike and what programs could be cut.

After last year’s 3.1 mill property tax increase, the district has requested permission from the state to increase taxes by another 2.5 mills for the coming year in an effort to mitigate a $1.3 million budget deficit.

Residents who attended Monday’s meeting primarily were looking for information, including details of the budget and what officials were doing to cut spending. They asked that the budget be posted on Northgate’s Web site.

Board president Susan Nolan said that superintendent Dr. Reggie Bonfield was drafting a letter that would be posted on the Web site at some time. The letter would outline the effect of Gov. Tom Corbett’s proposed budget cuts in educational spending, and also discuss what measures Northgate officials were considering to meet the budget challenge.

One resident told the school board that the measures should not include another tax increase. Bellevue resident Anna Daughenbaugh said that all that she had heard from the board so far was a request for authority to increase property taxes, and that the district could “no longer solve our budgetary problems by continuing to raise our property taxes.”

Nolan encouraged residents to contact their state representatives in an attempt to influence the state budget.

She also said that an attempt would be made to post Northgate’s proposed budget on the district’s Web site.

Meanwhile, Nolan said that the board had announced an incorrect date for the upcoming budget workshop, when residents are invited to comment on the spending plan. Although the meeting originally was announced for April 28, it actually will be held on April 25, with the time yet to be decided.

Nolan said that board members were very concerned about the budget situation, and that members were “trying to figure out the best solutions for the students.”