Webster Central projects 3% foundation-aid increase, uses $3M in reserves to balance 2025–26 budget

WEBSTER, N.Y. — At a budget workshop on April 8, 2025, Webster Central School District staff presented refined revenue projections and program-level adjustments that produce a balanced 2025–26 budget while using $3 million from reserve accounts.

The district’s presenter, identified in the meeting as Mr. Freeman, told the board the district would assume a 3% increase in Foundation Aid for the coming year and lock that figure into the budget. “We’re going with that 3% and lock that in,” he said, arguing the legislature’s final number is likely to be that figure or close to it.

The matter matters because state aid and local property taxes together make up roughly 91% of district revenue: state aid about 33% and tax revenue about 58%, Freeman said. The district’s preliminary budget total, as presented, is $226,064,025; staff said they had adjusted expenditures and revenues so the plan was balanced without a deficit.

Nut graf: District staff walked the board through how state aid estimates and local tax-rate inputs interact with one another — including expense-based aid categories that are driven by year-end enrollment and final cost reports — and recommended a combination of conservative state-aid assumptions, modest revenue increases, and a $3 million reserve draw to maintain current services.

Key revenue assumptions and projections

- Foundation Aid: Staff proposed using a 3% Foundation Aid increase in the budget model after noting the…