Finance committee presents $105.35M FY25‑26 budget and recommends 2.85% tax increase; insurance costs rise modestly

The Wallingford-Swarthmore School District finance office presented a final FY25–26 general fund budget of $105,352,610.45 and recommended a 2.85% local tax increase as part of the revenue assumptions supporting that budget.

Mark, the business‑office presenter (Business Office), told the committee that recent collective-bargaining settlements and compensation plan renewals increased personnel costs but that the administration offset much of the pressure through reallocations and the use of committed fund balances. The presentation showed a net year‑over‑year general fund increase of about $2.9 million compared with FY24–25; the presenter noted salary and benefit increases of roughly $3.8 million were largely absorbed by reallocation of other lines and by using designated fund-balance buckets created earlier in the year.

Key budget figures and actions shown in the packet and discussed in committee:

- Final general-fund expenditures: $105,352,610.45. - Recommended real-estate tax increase for 2025–26: 2.85% (administration presented millage estimates by municipality). - Use of committed fund balances: recommendation to use $500,000 from the district’s self‑insurance committed fund balance and to continue the practice of transferring year-end excess to a debt‑service bucket to smooth future capital-plan tax impacts; administration also reported the board previously set aside $1.5 million into a committed fund for capital/debt service. - Insurance renewals: net premium increase for the district of about $54,000. Drivers noted were a roughly 7% property-insurance increase, a workers-comp increase around $22,000 (partly driven by payroll and prior large claims), a rise in the district’s experience modification factor, and higher umbrella/excess‑liability costs. - Contracts and procurements: the packet listed 26 contracts for board consideration (mostly renewals); highlighted items included kitchen equipment purchases for food-service (paid from federal food-service funds) and several vendor procurements that administration will submit for board approval. - Operational and capital project charges called out in the packet: a planned seal-coating expense via AF Damon budgeted in operations (~$1,200,000) and a JMC Contractors capital expenditure (~$276,000) for lot/concession/ADA improvements.

The business office noted administrative upgrades completed in June (an enterprise financial-system upgrade completed June 2 and parallel payroll runs for three months during switchover) and the timing for real-estate/per-capita bills (mailed July 1; contact accounts-receivable if not received by July 10). The packet also listed two donations awaiting post-approval: playground sunshades for an elementary PTO and benches/storage donated by a high-school Eagle Scout project.

Committee members asked about vacancy rates, contract performance and the plan to communicate the capital roadmap and budget details publicly. The presenter said public-facing materials will be concise and hosted on a capital-plan webpage; a fuller workbook will be available to administration.

No formal budget adoption vote was recorded during the committee session; the finance presentation was advisory and expected to proceed to the full board for final action consistent with the district’s calendar.