Board approves fall financial forecast; treasurer warns long-term deficits if state funding changes

Ross Local School District trustees on Wednesday approved the district’s fall financial forecast and associated permanent appropriations after a presentation from district finance staff showing modest surpluses in the near term but growing deficits in later years.

Treasurer Steve Kaciner presented the forecast, telling the board this is a legal filing: "This is a legal requirement where the board must submit an approved 3 year forecast now in August and February of each fiscal year... because this is the first year of the new law that gave us until the October to submit the first forecast, it has to be filed by October 15," he said. Kaciner summarized the district’s revenue and expense assumptions and the numbers that will be submitted to the county budget commission.

The forecast shows projected revenue of about $33.8 million and projected expenditures of about $32.919 million, with roughly $26 million of that for personnel services. Kaciner said the district expects an approximately $860,000 surplus in the current year and about $750,000 the following year; by later years in the forecast the district is projected to run deficits and the ending cash balance begins to decline from a projected roughly $9.5 million.

Kaciner pointed to three primary revenue streams: property tax, income tax and state foundation funding. He told the board the district has experienced enrollment declines — roughly a loss of 600 students compared with nine years ago — which drives state funding through average daily membership (ADM) calculations. He also warned that a change at the state level removing the funding "guarantee" would be damaging: "If that happens, that would be the crisis in our district," he said.

Kaciner also listed notable assumptions that built the forecast: a 2.5 percent baseline salary increase assumption for fiscal 2027–2030, step increases that typically cost about 2.1 percent annually, and a locked electricity rate of 6.29 cents per kilowatt-hour that he said had saved the district about $1,520,000. He noted staffing reductions already made earlier this year and cautioned that legislative changes to property tax or state funding could materially change the projection.

After the presentation the board approved, in a block vote, the permanent appropriations resolution the district will file with the county budget commission, the amended certificate of estimated resources and the fall forecast. The roll call vote on the forecast and the block of fiscal items was recorded as unanimous.

Board members asked a few timing questions about the changed submission dates to state and county authorities; Kaciner confirmed the district will follow the new filing timetable and submit the forecast by the stated deadline.

The approved forecast will be filed with the Butler County Budget Commission as required; staff noted the board will continue monitoring legislative proposals that could alter property-tax and state school funding and will return to the board if assumptions must be revised.

Less urgent budget items such as the district’s cash-balance strategy and forthcoming policy work were discussed in committee but did not alter the forecast vote.

What’s next: the treasurer will file the forecast and appropriations with the county budget commission by the October 15 deadline and bring any necessary revisions to future board meetings if state action or material local changes require it.