To Ron Melleby, the convoluted process school districts must follow to adopt their annual budgets is "the theater of the absurd."

Melleby, a Donegal school board member, said it makes no sense to force districts to approve budgets and set tax rates in January, long before they know how much money they'll have to spend.

"The budget process is backwards. We have to look at costs and revenue, but we don't know what the state's going to do," Melleby said.

Gov. Tom Corbett won't unveil Pennsylvania's 2012-13 budget until next week, yet most school districts in Lancaster County were required under Act 1 to adopt their own preliminary spending plans by Jan. 25.

That includes Donegal, which gets 27 percent of its revenue from the state.

That disconnect results in preliminary budgets that, in many cases, will look a lot different than the final spending plans school boards must approve by summer.

For residents concerned about rising taxes, that's probably a good thing because many of the recently adopted budgets include hefty tax increases.

The 14 spending plans approved by districts enrolling Lancaster County students would boost property taxes in 2012-13 by an average of 4.8 percent — three times the average hike approved by districts this year.

Officials at some districts said the rates are purposely high to demonstrate to the state the need for additional leeway on taxes, and they intend to bring them down as budget discussions intensify in the coming months.

Columbia school board, for instance, approved a preliminary budget with a 10.78 percent increase, which would boost the average taxpayer's bill by $216.

But the board's goal for its final budget is to stay within the district's Act 1 index of 2.5 percent, which would result in an average tax increase of $50, according to business manager Laura Cowburn.

Three districts — Cocalico, Ephrata and Penn Manor — formally agreed to stay within their Act 1 indexes and did not have to approve preliminary budgets. Conestoga Valley also agreed to stay within its Act 1 limits but did not approve an ordinance stating that, so it had to pass a budget.

The 13 other county school districts are seeking state approval to exceed their taxing limits, if necessary, to pay for rising pension and special education costs. Because of that, they had to approve budgets now.

Public school employee pension contributions are scheduled to jump by 42 percent next year, or an average of more than $500,000 per district. School districts also are bracing for steep increases in special education, health care and charter school tuition costs.

Cocalico, for example, anticipates a nearly $1.4 million increase in expenditures for health care, retirement and special education services next year, superintendent Bruce Sensenig said.

Despite the rising costs, the district has agreed to stay within its Act 1 index of 2.1 percent. A tax hike of that amount could generate about $636,000 in additional revenue, business manager Sherri Stull said.

So how does Cocalico plan to make up the difference?

It will consider reducing its work force through attrition, Sensenig said, but Cocalico already has trimmed its teaching staff by 11 positions, and class sizes will have to be increased if retiring teachers aren't replaced.

"There's not a lot left to cut without hurting programs and our No Child Left Behind requirements," he said in an email.

Other county districts also face difficult budget decisions in the months ahead.

Manheim Township is facing a $3.5 million revenue shortfall, Hempfield's gap is estimated at $4.4 million, Manheim Central faces a $3 million funding gap and School District of Lancaster is eyeing a $4.4 million gap — even with a budgeted 4 percent tax increase and a $3 million influx of funds from the district's reserves.

Because revenue sources are expected to remain flat or decline next year, those budget gaps will have to be bridged with spending cuts, district officials said.

Problem is, there's less to cut this time around.

County school systems cut millions of dollars from their budgets this year by slashing 250 jobs and freezing wages for teachers, administrators and support staff members.

But officials in many districts say they can't ask their employees to accept wage freezes again, and their staffs can't be pared further without cutting into programs.

And even though their preliminary budgets have been approved, county districts are months away from deciding what to cut in 2012-13.

"We will hear what the governor proposes … and are already in the process of trying to make cuts where we can," Brenda Becker, superintendent of Hempfield School District, said in an email.

But she admitted the process has a long way to go.

"We have done our first line-by-line review of the budget and it has generated more questions than answers," she said.

"I wish I could give you specifics (on possible cuts), but at this point, it's too early in the process, and we aren't there yet."

bwallace@lnpnews.com