Council Rock School District officials on May 1 told the boardfinance committee they expect to finish the 2024-25 fiscal year with roughly $278 million in revenue and $274 million in expenditures, leaving a projected surplus of $3,567,441, and presented a proposed 2025-26 budget that relies on a 2.99% real-estate tax rate and would add instructional and support positions.

Anthony Rapp, director of business administration, led the budget presentation and told the committee the districthas collected most local revenue early in the year and is using new forecasting software to estimate final results. Rapp said the software projects additional revenues of about $12 million in local taxes, $24 million in state funding and roughly $759,000 in federal funding for the remainder of the year, and he cautioned the figures could change during the final three months.

Why it matters: the proposed 2025-26 budget would raise the districttax rate and add staff aimed at literacy and school operations while projecting a $7,828,287 budget gap that administrators plan to reduce before final adoption. The decisions affect taxpayers, staffing at schools, and classroom services.

Key budget figures and forecast

Rapp presented a year-to-date comparison showing prior-year revenues of about $235 million and expenditures of about $180 million at the same point last year, producing a large surplus at that time. For the current year he said revenues to date are roughly $239 million and that, after factoring anticipated receipts and expenditures through the end of the fiscal year, the district is forecasting $278 million in total revenue and $274 million in total expenditures.

Rapp said the model shows a timing-driven shortfall for the last three months of the fiscal year of about $51,650,000 but that overall the districtis projecting the $3.57 million surplus once the year is completed. He also told the board the districtis within about 2% of its adopted budget to date, which he described as a strong result for the new forecasting tool.

Proposed 2025-26 revenues and expenses

For 2025-26, the administration presented a revenue estimate that includes a 2.99% increase in real-estate taxes (the presentation notes this figure includes a previously approved 0.57% levy for full-day kindergarten). The administration said total budgeted local revenue for next year is approximately $220,995,226; the presentation also lists additional state revenue increases (an increase cited in the presentation was about $22.1 million) and a projected total revenue figure in the $285 million range (the transcript text on the exact headline total is fragmented).

On the expenditure side administrators flagged personnel costs and a notable rise in nonpersonnel spending. The presentation shows total salary-and-benefit costs in the roughly $200 million range and a larger jump in nonpersonnel expenses (from about $79 million to about $90 million in the draft), driven largely by transportation contract increases and higher custodial/contracted services. The administration described an overall 5.01% increase in total expenses in the draft budget and reported a current draft deficit of $7,828,287.

New and additional positions proposed

The administration asked the board to include several new positions in the proposed budget so they can appear in the public posting and be discussed before final adoption. The items presented include:

- Two full-time literacy specialists (one per middle school). The administration said middle schools currently do not have literacy specialists.
- Four additional elementary literacy specialists to supplement existing elementary coverage; the administration said there is currently one literacy specialist at each elementary school and the new positions would be deployed based on districtwide need rather than permanently assigned to single schools.
- One additional shipper/receiver position to provide dedicated coverage at each high school to reduce travel and delivery delays.
- A 0.5 full-time equivalent adjustment in the business office to create an additional payroll staffer for redundancy and continuity in payroll operations.

Anthony Rapp estimated the incremental cost of the proposed new positions and related additions at approximately $800,000 to $1,000,000 in payroll and related costs, and characterized some figures as subject to change pending collective-bargaining outcomes.

Board discussion and concerns

Board members asked for clarifications on several items. A recurring concern was the tax-rate target: school board member Joe Hidalgo said he prefers a lower increase and told the administration, "2% is what I've said. We have to live within our means." Multiple members pushed administrators to reduce nonpersonnel spending if they seek to keep the tax increase closer to that level. Other questions focused on the large variance in the property/facilities column, the modeling of transportation costs, and the timing of state and local revenues.

Administrators explained that some of the apparent variances are timing issues (revenue collection up front, expenditures spread through the year), that transportation contracts increase about 4% annually, and that conservative budgeting practices are being used to avoid understating liabilities. Andy Sanko, superintendent, and Rapp said the district will continue to refine numbers as contract negotiations and final state figures are resolved.

Budget process and next steps

The administration asked the board to approve a proposed final budget for advertising at the boardmeeting on May 15 so the budget document can be posted and made available to the public for the required 20-day review period. Rapp said the district intends to post the proposed budget on the district website and make a paper copy available in the Chancellor's Center lobby on or about May 19, and to return to the board with any adjustments and a request for final budget adoption at a June board meeting in mid-June (dates discussed at the meeting included June 19 and June 20; administrators said they will finalize the calendar). The administration also scheduled further detail on instructional positions for the districteducation committee meeting later in May.

No formal motions or votes were taken during the May 1 meeting; the board and administration agreed to include the proposed positions in the draft/proposed budget so they could be discussed publicly and adjusted before final adoption.

What remains unresolved

Administrators said final figures remain contingent on ongoing collective-bargaining outcomes, final state allocations and the districtreal-estate collection rate (including taxpayer use of early-payment discounts). Board members requested additional comparisons between spring projections and prior fall results to judge how conservative estimates have been in past years and to help evaluate the draft deficit and any tax-rate decision.

The board set a timeline of committee and board meetings in May and June for further review; the education committee will present more detail on the proposed instructional positions before the board finalizes the budget.