Upper Darby projects $11.1M gap for 2025–26; proposes about 3% tax increase and $7.78M use of fund balance
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Summary
Finance staff presented a proposed final 2025–26 budget showing $266.6 million in revenues and $277.76 million in expenditures, a gap of about $11.1 million that the district would address with a roughly 3% tax increase (adding about $3.37 million) and a $7.776 million use of fund balance; final adoption is scheduled for June 17, 2025.
Upper Darby School District finance staff presented the proposed final budget for the 2025–26 fiscal year and reviewed the Act 1 timeline for adoption.
Mister Rogers reported proposed revenues of $266.6 million and proposed expenditures of $277.76 million, producing a budgetary gap of approximately $11.1 million. The proposed plan includes a roughly 3% tax increase that staff estimated would add about $3.367 million in revenue and reduce the required use of fund balance to about $7.776 million. Staff said the district must adopt a final budget no later than June 30, 2025 and said it will publish a notice of intent to adopt by June 7, present the final budget on June 17 and ask the board to vote on adoption that night.
The presentation included a summary of state and federal funding assumptions used in the draft: modest increases budgeted for proposed state basic education and special education components, a partial offset for the governor’s Ready‑to‑Learn proposals, and level funding assumed for several federal Title programs. Staff noted the budget includes awarded grants: a PCCD school‑safety grant of $337,000, a school environmental repair grant of $1,780,000 and a DCD life‑safety grant of $1,000,000. The district also plans an additional bond issuance in 2025–26 to close out Clifton Heights Middle School construction. Staff said all ESSER funds expired as of Sept. 30, 2024 and are not in the 2025–26 budget.
No new staff positions were requested in the presented draft. Finance staff said they will return to the board with any updates at the June 17 meeting and asked the board to adopt the final budget that evening if no further changes are necessary.
Vice President Murphy Morrissey thanked state legislators for advocacy on funding matters but no formal committee vote or adoption occurred during the meeting; the item was informational and subject to the June board timeline.
