Council Rock proposes lean 2025-26 budget; board to post proposed final next week

Anthony Rapp, the district’s director of business administration, presented the committee with the administration’s proposed 2025‑26 budget on May 8 and told the finance committee that the document to be approved next week is a proposed final budget intended for public display, not the final adopted budget.

“We’re gonna ask you to approve a proposed final budget that is not the final budget,” Rapp said, adding the district must post a proposed figure in order to comply with display and public‑notice rules prior to final adoption.

Key figures in the presentation included local revenues of $220,369,000; a proposed total budgeted expenditure of $292,469,714 (an increase of $13,014,791, or 4.66%); and a projected budget deficit of $6,437,656 under the proposal. Rapp said the administration is using a 2.93% real estate tax increase in the package and that state revenue estimates rise by $3,056,405.04, in part because state reimbursements for payroll costs increase when salaries go up.

Rapp emphasized teacher salary and step increases are not included in the payroll totals in the presentation because negotiations are ongoing; instead, an allowance amount for those potential costs is recorded under the 300–900 expense categories until a contract is final. He listed proposed additional positions included in the package: two middle‑school literacy specialists, four elementary literacy specialists, a shipper/receiver at the high school level, a 0.8 FTE teaching position at the south high school, two FTE teaching positions at the north high school, and a 0.5 FTE payroll position in the business office.

Rapp and the committee discussed the district’s multi‑year practice of starting the fiscal year with a conservative deficit and noted that in most years the district’s conservative budgeting and in‑year operations have produced surpluses by year‑end. Rapp said the administration has worked to reduce an earlier gap of about $7.7 million to the current $6.4 million shortfall.

Timeline and next steps: the committee will be asked to approve the proposed final budget next week so it can be posted for the statutorily required public review; the administration said it aims for final budget adoption at the June 19 meeting (staff noted additional time through June is available if needed). Rapp also told the board that if contract negotiations conclude before final adoption, the allowance amounts can be adjusted but cannot be incorporated into payroll totals until a contract is executed.

Why this matters: the budget sets the district’s tax rate and program priorities for 2025‑26 and will frame any decisions about staffing, programs such as Knights for Knowledge, and use of fund balance.