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Wallingford projects $1.39 million surplus; board discusses using funds for unplanned repairs
Summary
District staff presented an initial 2025–26 projection showing a $1,388,000 surplus driven largely by changes in employee health-plan composition; trustees discussed moving $121,750 from insurance to operations to cover three emergent facilities repairs and agreed by consensus to forward the item to the full board.
Dominic Barone, a finance staff member for the Wallingford School District, told the operations committee Monday that the district’s initial projection for the year shows a $1,388,000 surplus.
"This is our initial projection for the year. We are projecting a $1,388,000 surplus," Barone said, and he walked trustees through the drivers behind that figure: a reduced contingency and a substantial shift in health-plan enrollment.
The projection includes a reduced contingency of $427,000, reflecting an earlier decision to allocate $40,000 for a high-school site project. Barone said the larger factor is changes in the composition of insured employees: "we are insuring 12 less individuals ... and we are insuring 53 less families," which lowers the district’s health-care expense. He summarized plan-cost assumptions used in the projection: roughly $34,000 as the board cost for a family plan, $25,000 for a dual plan and $12,000 for a single plan.
Barone cautioned the projection is early and depends on staffing and plan choices. He also flagged line-item pressure: an initial $114,000 deficit projected for tuitions, a transportation projection of $386,000 (including home-to-school, in-district, summer school and smaller accounts), and a $109,000 deficit in salaries that Barone expects to fluctuate as vacancies are filled or leave replacement savings accrue.
Board members urged caution. Board member Danielle said the district is only a month into the year and noted variable factors such as winter utility costs and open negotiations that could reduce the surplus. "We could be hit with a really cold winter, which means our utility costs are gonna go up," she said.
Trustees discussed whether to accelerate planned purchases and projects to reduce an end-of-year unspent balance. Barone said some unanticipated needs exist and pointed to a list of near-term facilities requests (discussed separately with facilities staff). He also said auditors are in the field and the district will wait for their work before finalizing allocations from the unencumbered fund.
At the meeting’s close, the committee agreed by consensus to move the financial report and related transfer requests to the full board for formal action.
For transparency to the public, Barone said he will continue to provide monthly explanations as numbers change.
ending: The operations committee moved the matter to the full board; any formal transfers or further allocations will be considered at the district’s full board meeting.
