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Palmdale Aerospace Academy District adopts 2025–26 budget and LCAP; CFO highlights reserves, bond subsidies and accounting cleanup
Summary
The district board adopted the 2025–26 fiscal-year budget and the Local Control and Accountability Plan after a presentation by Chief Business Official Sarah Zruhl, who outlined estimated actuals, a projected LCFF entitlement of about $32.1 million, an SB 740 facilities subsidy and steps to reconcile prior-year accounting items.
The Palmdale Aerospace Academy District board voted to adopt its 2025–26 budget and approve the Local Control and Accountability Plan (LCAP) after a detailed presentation from Chief Business Official Sarah Zruhl.
Zruhl told the board the district’s projected Local Control Funding Formula entitlement is about $32.1 million for the upcoming year and that the state’s SB 740 facilities grant will subsidize a portion of the district’s bond lease payments — she cited an expected facility subsidy near $3.2 million against roughly $5.45 million in annual bond payments. Zruhl also said the May revision to the state budget sets the cost-of-living adjustment at about 2.3 percent for planning purposes.
Zruhl reviewed estimated actuals and flagged a multiyear effort to clean up prior-year balance-sheet items, including receivables and accounts that appeared in the ledger but are not expected to be collectible. She told the board she is reconciling accounts and working with auditors; the presentation listed an estimated net position of about $2.6 million in the current comparison, with the caveat that unaudited actuals and additional reconciliations could change that figure.
On benefits and retirement costs, Zruhl described the district’s ongoing work to finalize CalPERS enrollment and explained that employer retirement contributions and related payroll accounting will change as PERS coverage for some employees is implemented. She also explained STRS-on-behalf entries (a required accounting recognition of state pension payments) and why the district is showing those amounts in both revenue and expense lines for transparency.
Zruhl described major revenue and expense movements: federal COVID-era ESSER funding has declined from prior years; local interest earnings were stronger than originally projected; and the budget includes a textbook-adoption purchase for a math curriculum that will be accounted for under books and supplies.
Board members asked questions about reserves, the effect of higher employer retirement costs on future budgets, whether COVID one-time funds were fully expended and whether district cash could be used for classroom upgrades such as the furniture pilot discussed earlier. Zruhl said the district currently projects reserves adequate to meet bond covenants and a board policy target for months of cash; she said administrators plan to preserve compliance while using some unrestricted cash for one-time fixed-asset purchases with board approval.
The board approved the LCAP and the fiscal-year adoption budget by voice vote. The CBO said she will continue reconciliations and return revised unaudited actuals as needed at the next reporting cycle.
What happens next: the district will finalize year-end reconciliations, continue CalPERS enrollment steps, and post unaudited actuals when audits are complete.
Why this matters: budget adoption sets the district’s legal spending plan for the fiscal year, shows how one-time and ongoing revenues will be used, and confirms compliance with bond covenants that underpin the district’s lease payments and long-term borrowing.
