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Business administrator previews budget: WPU increase, ESSER cliff and levy decision loom
Summary
Business administrator Jared Black told the Cache County School District Board on May 1 that a 4% increase to the state’s Weighted Pupil Unit and small projected enrollment growth will influence the coming budget while the loss of ESSER dollars and a local levy decision that affects roughly $20 million in state aid require board consideration.
Jared Black, the district’s business administrator, presented a budget preview at the May 1 study session, outlining revenue and expenditure factors that will shape the 2025–26 budget. "We were allocated a 4% WPU funding increase," Black told the board, and he said the WPU value for next year is 4,674.
Black said fall enrollment is projected to be slightly higher than the prior year but still below 20,000 students; he estimated the district would add roughly 1.5 full‑time teaching positions to absorb that growth. He also noted the district employs about 3,500 people.
On federal funding, Black reminded the board that the district is facing an "ESSER cliff" as pandemic ARP/ESSER funds are phased out; he said the district built many positions so they could be eliminated when ESSER funding ended but that uncertainty remains about the status of other federal programs.
On expenditures, Black said the district expects to absorb steps and lanes cost increases ("approximately 1,500,000.0") and that a 1% cost‑of‑living adjustment is roughly $1,000,000 for the district. He said health insurance and retirement rate changes are being monitored and the district was looking for cost‑neutral health plan options.
Black flagged a major revenue decision: the district receives about $20 million from the combined board and voted local levy program but must maintain a combined tax rate of 2.000 to qualify for full state funding. "Our current tax rate is well below that ... it's 15 73," he said, and recommended the board consider increasing the combined local levies to 2.000; doing so would require a truth‑in‑taxation hearing in August under the budget process.
He also summarized legislative changes that affect district programs, including reclassification of "professional staff" funding into a flexible allocation line, reductions or eliminations of some CTE program lines, and a transfer of a stipend program (TSSP) into a district‑managed program called SHINE.
Next steps: Black said the district will finalize assessed valuation once county figures arrive (end of May/June), finish bid reviews, and build the formal budget in the financial system for the June adoption. He asked the board for early feedback on pursuing a truth‑in‑taxation hearing this summer to preserve levy‑based state funding.
