Residents of the Fox Chapel Area School District can expect to pay slightly more in taxes next year as the school board on Monday night approved a $79 million budget.

The property tax rate will climb to 20.3 mills, up from 19.71. That means the owner of a home assessed at $200,000 will pay $4,060 in school taxes, compared to $3,942 in 2007.

Expenses will total about $74 million, about $2 million more than this year. There will be no increase in teaching staff, school officials said Monday night.

• Premium costs for medical insurance will increase 6 percent. Dental and vision rates will also increase by 2 percent and 35 percent, respectively, meaning a $21,000 hike in the combined packages.

• As recommended by the Pennsylvania Department of Education, the school district will maintain the contribution rate paid to the Public School Employees' Retirement System (PSERS) at 3.565 percent.

• The budget includes a $1 million transfer into the capital projects fund, which will be used to help maintain the condition of the district's facilities.

This year's budget is up just slightly from the $78.2 million package in 2007.

Beginning with the 2005-2006 school year, the Pennsylvania General Assembly regulated the amount that Pennsylvania school districts may maintain as an undesignated fund balance.

Act 48 of 2003 stipulates that the school district may not raise property taxes unless its undesignated fund balance is less than 8 percent.

It is projected that the district's undesignated fund balance will be $4,595,984, or 6.17 percent of anticipated expenditures.