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CFO presents FY25 budget update and monthly financial reports; district remains in deficit spending
Summary
Cindy Romins, the district chief financial officer, reviewed FY25 budget amendments, monthly financial reports and projections showing continued deficit spending; staff described tools and timelines for forecasting and said the district will continue monthly reporting to the Governing Council.
Cindy Romins, chief financial officer for the Special School District of St. Louis County, presented an update on the FY25 budget and the district's new monthly financial reporting package, telling the Governing Council the district remains in deficit spending but is taking actions to improve fund balance and forecasting.
Romins said the Board previously approved a set of budget amendments through Dec. 10 and that staff have produced a "riding the ship" FY25 budget that incorporates initial cost-containment measures and some position reductions. She said the district's application of those measures would move the salary budget from about $394 million to about $393 million under the riding-the-ship scenario and could improve operating fund balance from roughly 39% toward about 42% if continued measures are implemented.
The nut graf: The CFO walked the council through the district's monthly financial statements, cash-flow concerns and forecasting tools, highlighting that state-level legislative changes and the end of federal ESSER funding create uncertainty for revenue projections.
Romins reviewed three fund groups (general, special revenue and capital) and said the district has focused reporting on aggregated operating funds (general + special revenue). She noted the district's beginning fund balance used in the adopted budget was projected at about $324 million but the actual beginning balance was about $314 million, which reduced the headroom available despite expenditure reductions.
She showed trends through Nov. 30: several supply accounts are underspent relative to last year, while purchased services — including substitute teachers, other professional services, contracted cleaning and contracted transportation — are areas of pressure. Romins said the district budgets roughly $17.6 million for substitutes this year and noted that substitute pay is only a small portion of total purchased services.
On forecasted outcomes, Romins said the forecasting tool (Frontline Forecast5) produces an annual forecast that currently shows an unfavorable variance to the adopted budget, and the district's forecasted deficit is approximately $73 million while the adopted budget showed about a $70 million deficit. Romins said the district will use guided analysis tools in Forecast5 to dig into drivers of variances.
Board members asked about state-level risks, including Senate Bill 727 and county tax-freeze provisions tied to Senate Bills 190 and 756. Romins said those measures could suppress future property-tax growth and that the fiscal impact remained uncertain; she described an illustrative, county-level worst-case suppression estimate that staff converted into a possible $4 million 10-year effect for SSD, but emphasized the figure is highly variable and not an immediate FY25 reduction.
Romins repeated that reliable cash-flow forecasting is a priority: "If I'm going to need to borrow in October, November, I better know by August or September," she said, explaining the need to anticipate low-cash months and plan borrowing or other measures in advance.
Ending: Romins told the council she would include longer-range (five-year) projections with future presentations and that staff would continue to provide monthly financial statements, variance narratives and visual dashboards to help board members monitor progress toward the district's fund-balance goals.
