Waterford board adopts 2025–26 budget and millage; trustees, staff and union warn of layoffs and structural shortfall

The Waterford School District Board of Education approved revised fiscal-year 2024–25 appropriations and adopted the district's original 2025–26 budget and millage rates during its June meeting, voting unanimously on both measures.

Board members and district staff emphasized that the district is operating with a shrinking fund balance and that one-time COVID-era federal funds had masked underlying structural deficits. Assistant Superintendent Lisa Hildebrandt presented the financials and trustees discussed plans for multi-year forecasting and tighter budget monitoring.

Why it matters: The board approved appropriations and a 17.6749-mill nonhomestead tax rate for the coming year, steps that set tax levies and spending authority while trustees described the need to replace one-time funding with recurring revenue or cuts. Public commenters and union representatives said staff reductions and contract stances are compounding the district's operational strain.

The board voted to adopt a revised appropriation resolution for FY 2024–25 that increased total appropriations after recognizing higher state revenues. Among figures presented were $128,071,819 in revised total revenues and an appropriated general fund amount of $130,800,475 for the revised 2024–25 appropriations; the original 2025–26 general fund appropriation adopted later was $122,447,062. Members noted the district began the year with roughly $16.7 million in fund balance and will end the year below $14 million under the adopted spending plan.

Trustee Joan Ristich (board member) thanked staff for rapid fiscal work after the district discovered larger shortfalls than anticipated, saying she appreciated the move to “multi-year forecasting” and earlier auditing steps to avoid future surprises. Several trustees urged the administration to provide regular updates to the board and to bring revised budgets forward as conditions change.

Two public speakers tied directly to the budget debate spoke during the meeting. Allison Upliger, a longtime district volunteer and former SAFE team staffer, said she was laid off and described cuts across the district: “Three weeks ago, I received the earth shattering news that I lost my job,” she said, adding that librarians and middle-school computer grant programs had been cut or restructured. Lori Tunick, executive director of the Michigan Education Association servicing Waterford, told the board that negotiations with the district have been slow and concerning and criticized district budget assumptions. “Your budget assumptions of no on-schedule increases, no improvements to the salary schedule, no off-schedule payments…do not reflect good faith bargaining,” Tunick said, and warned that withholding financial negotiation until the governor’s budget guarantees expired contracts and erodes trust.

Discussion versus decisions: The board formally approved appropriations and millage rates (decisions). Trustees directed staff to implement multi-year forecasting, increase regular budget reporting, and bring forward revised budgets as needed (direction). Public comments and union statements were recorded as discussion and public testimony.

Clarifying details taken from meeting remarks: - Revised total revenues presented: $128,071,819. - Revised general fund appropriation (FY 2024–25): $130,800,475. - Original general fund appropriation adopted for FY 2025–26: $122,447,062. - Beginning fund balance cited by board discussion: about $16.7 million; projected year-end balance: under $14 million. - Board vote on revised appropriations and on the 2025–26 original budget and millage: unanimous (6–0).

What happens next: Trustees said they will implement enhanced forecasting and present periodic updated budget reports; the board also noted state-level decisions on school aid could require further adjustment this fall.

Ending note: Board members repeatedly asked the public to engage with legislators about state school funding, and district leaders said they would continue to update the board as state allocations become final.