Wallingford‑Swarthmore board adopts $105.35 million 2025‑26 budget, greenlights 10‑year capital plan

The Wallingford‑Swarthmore School Board on June 18 approved a $105,352,610.45 final general‑fund budget for the 2025‑26 school year and adopted a 10‑year capital plan intended as a planning roadmap for facilities work.

Duana Mosley, the district’s business administrator, told the board the administration recommends a 2.85% tax increase to balance the budget and cover rising personnel and insurance costs. Mosley said the net increase to the budget since the May proposed version is $165,342.93, driven largely by settled employee compensation plans and updated insurance premiums.

Mosley said the administration plans to use about $1.6 million from committed fund balances — including a $500,000 draw from the district’s self‑insured fund — to help offset the tax increase and recommended moving future year surplus funds into the district’s debt‑service committed fund balance to reduce millage pressure as the capital program advances.

Why it matters: the budget funds new positions and several multiyear investments while seeking to limit tax growth by using one‑time fund balances and reallocated dollars. Voters who watch local school finances track millage changes closely because the district relies heavily on residential property tax revenue.

Mosley told the board the final expenditures total $105,352,610.45 and that the administration’s recommended millage would set Nether Providence and Rose Valley at 30.9182 mills and Rutledge and Swarthmore at 31.1711 mills. She reported the district’s collection…