The Perkiomen Valley School Board has unanimously approved a resolution that will ask voters whether they want to exchange the elimination of one kind of tax for an increase in another.

The resolution was adopted Monday night and will ask voters on Nov. 3 if they wish to eliminate the occupational assessment tax “and replace it with an essentially equivalent increase in the earned income tax,” according to a statement released by the district.

The vote came on the heels of a public hearing on the subject attended by about 60 residents.

The occupational assessment tax generates about $4.2 million a year for the district and is levied based on a resident’s job title.

But because different jobs may pay different salaries, the district has moved to generate equal revenue from a tax based on a taxpayer’s actual salary.

The district administration “has determined that an increase in the rate of the earned income tax would be more equitable than a continuation of the occupation tax,” Business Administrator Jim Weaver said in the release.

In order to replace the income lost by the elimination of the occupation tax, the district has estimated it will need to increase the current earned income tax rate from .5 percent to .9 percent.

The increase would become effective July 1, 2010, if approved by the voters in November.

The increase will generate different rates among the six different municipalities which comprise the district only because some townships have higher earned income tax rates of their own.

Prior to putting the question to voters, the district will hold two public information hearings about the issue.

The first will be held Oct. 10 at Skippack Elementary School, 4081 Heckler Road.

The second will be held Oct. 21 at Perkiomen Valley Middle School East, 100 Kagy Road.

Also, school board members and administrators have made plans to attend upcoming supervisor and council meetings in Perkiomen, Skippack, Lower Frederick, Collegeville, Schwenksville and Trappe.

The district will also post information about the referendum at www.pvsd.org, the district’s Web site.