CFO previews 2026 budget: retirement, health and ADM shifts shape early outlook

Sharon Mahaffey, chief financial officer for Alexander County Schools, told the board the district has begun work on the 2026 budget and expects to present a preliminary proposal in October. Mahaffey said key assumptions affecting the budget include an increase in employer retirement contributions from 24.04% to 24.67% and a projected rise in health-insurance costs from $8,095 to $8,500 per employee.

Mahaffey said the district’s average daily membership (ADM) used for state funding calculations is 4,201, down 83 students from the prior year; she described the initial allotment used for budgeting as a floor and said final allotments could increase only if the General Assembly appropriates additional funds.

She identified several allotment changes and program adjustments: an increase in disadvantaged-student supplemental funding of $59,000, an increase in children-with-disabilities funding of $82,500, a year-end teacher supplement increase of $189,802, and a reduced allotment or program loss described as an at-risk student-support reduction of $146,681. Mahaffey said staffing adjustments reflected in the personnel report included a net loss of 3.5 classroom-teacher positions, one enhancement teacher position and one instructional-support position; she also referenced CTE months of employment and other technical changes.

The county approved an increased appropriation to the school system of $8,078,040, an increase Mahaffey said amounted to $585,000. She told the board that preliminary initial allotments will form the floor for this year’s budget and that the district will update numbers if the state budget changes.

Mahaffey offered to answer questions and did not ask the board to take formal action; board members thanked her for the report.