Board begins seven‑meeting budget review with $198M in projected revenues and a multi‑hundred‑thousand to multi‑million dollar gap to close

On Jan. 23 the Niagara Falls City School District began a seven‑meeting review of its 2025–26 budget that district leaders said will aim to present a final, balanced budget with no tax‑levy increase and no layoffs.

Superintendent Mr. Lohrey said the board will meet seven times on the budget, refining a one‑page summary and detailed backup, and emphasized three priorities: no tax increase, roll current programs forward, and avoid layoffs. Finance staff presented preliminary revenue and expenditure changes and identified a gap the board must close over the coming meetings.

Finance director Julie told the board the district started from the current‑year budget and applied adjustments for next year. She said total projected revenue adjustments were $13,385,202, bringing total projected revenue to just over $198,000,000. Becky, the school business official, outlined expense increases tied to salaries, benefits and special‑education costs. The district’s working estimate showed projected spending in the region of $202,000,000, leaving a difference the superintendent described in the meeting as a gap to close over the coming weeks.

Key revenue changes flagged at the meeting included a state “foundation aid” increase the presenters identified at roughly $7,000,000 above prior baseline and a state timing “true‑up” payment that the superintendent described as a roughly $1.3 million timing gain. Finance staff warned that the governor’s figure is a floor and the Legislature could alter final state aid totals.

On the expense side, presenters described several drivers of increased costs: negotiated raises and steps (noting a CSEA increase estimate of about $482,000), higher special‑education tuition (presenters used a 12 percent illustrative increase), an assumed 9 percent medical‑benefits increase carried forward from last year, expected amortization of recent capital borrowing and estimated debt service for a new project. Becky said that without the new capital borrowing the budget‑to‑budget increase would be about 4.9 percent; with the proposed project debt service included the increase rose to about 6.16 percent, roughly aligned with the governor’s 6 percent foundation aid increase.

Budget gap options discussed included: using reserves (the team noted unrestricted fund balance and other reserve lines, and estimated required use of debt‑service reserves for required offsets), seeking additional state aid during advocacy, program or personnel reductions (which the superintendent said he did not recommend), or a tax levy increase (also not the recommended first option). The superintendent repeated his policy recommendation to pursue a balanced package that avoids a tax increase and layoffs.

The board also viewed a Comptroller’s fiscal stress slide for Niagara Falls showing the district has “no designation” for fiscal stress and modest improvements in environmental stress, a point leadership used to underscore the district’s stable position relative to many peer districts.

Superintendent Lohrey and finance staff said the next budget meeting will further refine assumptions and that the board will be asked to adopt a budget for the public vote on May 20. Over the seven meetings the administration will update the board on updated state aid numbers, reserve‑use recommendations and any budget additions (salt truck replacements, instructional positions and other possible requests were singled out as items that may be proposed).