Danville Area SD presents 2025–26 budget outlook, flags state funding shift and one-time health-insurance reprieve

Danville Area School District finance staff on Tuesday presented a draft 2025–26 budget showing $48,327,482.50 in expenditures and projected revenues of $47,608,801.63, leaving a planned use of fund balance of about $718,000.

The presentation laid out why the district is not proposing a local real-estate tax increase now, how recent vendor negotiations reduced technology costs and why a state funding formula change is squeezing future revenue.

Finance director Mike Mavis said the expense total “includes a $200,000 projected transfer to the capital reserve and also a $200,000 budgetary reserve figure.” He told the board the district locked into health-insurance premium rates when it moved to a self-insured model with PSHIC, meaning “for 25–26 we don't have to budget a cost increase” but that the reprieve is “for this year only.”

Why it matters: district officials said the combination of a probable rise in health costs after 2025–26 and a multi-year state funding shift will constrain capacity for new projects. Mavis said the state’s new “adequacy” formula and the split between that and the older formula mean Danville received far less than it would have under the old distribution method: “In fiscal year 25, Danville would have received $734,000; instead we received $192,000. So, a difference of $542,000,” and “the 2 year net ongoing impact is about $865,000.”

Staff highlighted several revenue and expenditure details community members and board members asked about. On local collections, the budget presentation noted the district’s board previously passed an Act 1 resolution capping any real-estate tax increase at the Act 1 index (4% for Danville this year). Mavis said earned-income-tax projections are more volatile than real-estate tax receipts but that the district expects a modest increase and has raised its budgeted collection rate to 96.5% based on historical experience.

The finance presentation also described changes to projected costs after negotiatons and procurement: an information-technology project to replace two core network switches saw the manufacturer’s suggested retail price drop substantially through the vendor, and Chromebook pricing was locked in after staff pushed back on a vendor’s attempted last-minute price increase tied to potential tariffs.

State and federal aid: Mavis said that under the state’s current budgeting proposals, Danville is in the early years of a multi-year redistribution of school funding that reduces local aid compared with the prior formula, and that federal revenues were projected to be level-funded for planning purposes. He warned that state-level changes “have real impacts on our budget and our fiscal position.”

Next steps and timing: the board was shown updated working papers; staff said several budget-related items will return for formal action in upcoming meetings (itemized transfers, contract approvals, and finalized expenditure lines). Mavis encouraged board members to request follow-up briefings when desired.

Ending: board members asked clarifying questions and the superintendent and finance staff said they are available to review line items before the board takes any final action on tax rates or the overall budget.