District reports fiscal-year surplus and flags enrollment uncertainty tied to new apartment developments

District finance staff reported a positive change in the fiscal-year projections and warned trustees the coming year will pose budget challenges tied to enrollment uncertainty. Finance director Anna (surname not specified in the transcript) told the board preliminary numbers for the just-ended fiscal year showed revenues came in about $78,609 below projections but expenditures were roughly $367,261 lower than expected, producing a net positive variance of $288,565. The director described those figures as provisional: final journal entries, invoices and grant adjustments are pending. The district’s external audit is scheduled for early October, with audited financial statements expected to be presented to the board in November or December depending on timing. Why it matters: Preliminary surpluses can ease near-term cash flow but do not eliminate structural budget challenges; the board must set a budget for the coming year with limited certainty on enrollment-driven revenue. Enrollment and capacity concerns: Board members asked about the effect of several large apartment projects under construction in the city. Staff said there have been verbal conversations with developers and city planners but no firm enrollment data; using common projection equations, staff estimated a rough yield of about 200–250 additional students from a proposed 700 rental units. Staff said they would follow up with the city and report firm projections in October when in-year enrollment numbers are available and as part of the district’s long-range facilities planning process. Other financial notes: Some federal grant receipts (described in the meeting as “federal course fees”) may not arrive by the August 31 cutoff and would therefore post to the next fiscal year rather than the year just closed; that timing was cited as a source of uncertainty in the year-end numbers. Board members were also reminded that savings recorded in the current year include some positions left unfilled, which is not a sustainable long-term savings strategy. Next steps: Staff will provide updated projections in August, a different format in September once new-year payroll and encumbrances are posted, and an audited report after the October audit. The board will receive enrollment-projection updates in October as part of the annual enrollment/ facilities review.