Operations committee reports $226,000 fiscal-year surplus; allocation to 2% fund paused pending audit

Finance staff reported Monday that final results for the 2024–25 fiscal year show a surplus of approximately $226,000 — about 0.19% of a roughly $118,000,000 budget. The committee was reminded that the Board of Education previously voted to allow up to 2% of the budget to be placed into a 2% reserve fund, but staff said any transfer from this year's surplus should wait until auditors complete final field work. "Our final results for the, '25, 24, 25 fiscal year, we have a surplus of approximately $226,000. This represents 0.19% of our $118,000,000 budget," Finance staff member Mr. Barone said. He recommended awaiting the auditors' October field work so the district can confirm final figures before allocating funds to the 2% reserve. Barone told the committee there are about $181,050.86 in outstanding encumbrances — amounts set aside for goods or services provided before June 30 that will be liquidated during close-out. He said those encumbrances largely reflect services already delivered and therefore are effectively spent for accounting purposes. Committee members discussed reallocating existing ending balances to cover a few deficit accounts, including camera and server lines that are "in the hole," and a small deficit on the turf study line (noted in the meeting as $32). Staff said they will reallocate within ending balances to clear those small negative lines. The committee also discussed a waterfall project plan: staff will prioritize items in the plan, meet with building administrators during budget season, and bring recommendations to the next operations meeting about which projects to fund from the 2% reserve if the board chooses to transfer funds. No formal motion to transfer surplus to the 2% fund was made during the meeting; the committee directed staff to await the auditors' final report and to return with proposed allocations and an updated waterfall plan for committee consideration.