Property owners in Red Lion Area School District will pay slightly more in taxes for the coming school year.

The school board adopted a budget that raises taxes 1.5 percent at its meeting last week.

The $81.2 million spending plan includes a property tax rate of 23.388 mills, which translates into a $33 tax hike on a home assessed at $100,000; a $49.50 tax hike on a home assessed at $150,000.

The district faced a 2.3 percent state-imposed property tax cap and applied for exceptions that would have allowed for a higher tax increase, but decided not to raise taxes that high.

In balancing the budget, the district cut salary and benefit costs by about $640,000 by not filling some positions that are coming vacant because of retirements.

Tax relief: The board also approved its own tax relief program for senior citizens and disabled district residents for the coming year.

The program provides a tax rebate of up to $650 to qualified property owners who apply for the rebate. The applications will be available in early January.

To be eligible for this program, the taxpayer:

---Must by 65 years of age or over, or their spouse must by 65 years or older;

---Or must be a widow or widower 50 years old or older;

---Or must be a disabled person 18 years old or older.

In addition, the property subject to the rebate must be a homestead, meaning it's the taxpayer's primary place of residence.

And the person must have a household income for the calendar year of $35,000 or less, which includes half of an applicant's Social Security payments.

For more information about the tax relief program, see the district's website at http://www.rlasd.k12.pa.us/.

-- Staff writer Christina Kauffman contributed to this report.