Salem-Keizer reports healthy fiscal-year closeout but warns reserves will be drawn down
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Summary
Superintendent Castaneda told the board the district closed fiscal year with ending fund balance slightly above policy targets and credited finance staff for accurate forecasting; the district noted a $15 million interfund transfer to purchase a building and warned that the $96 million reserve will be drawn down in future budgets.
Superintendent Castaneda presented Salem-Keizer SD 24J’s quarter 4 fiscal closeout for the year ended June 30, 2025, telling the board on Sept. 23 that the district closed the fiscal year with revenues and expenses balanced and an ending fund balance slightly above policy targets.
Castaneda praised the finance team’s forecasting and said the staff were within $9 million of accuracy on a roughly $1 billion budget for the prior year. She said the district’s ending fund balance is healthy now but cautioned the board that the district anticipates “starting to burn down that $96,000,000 reserve” in next year’s budget planning.
Castaneda noted the quarter 4 results include a $15,000,000 interfund transfer for a building purchase discussed earlier in the spring. She said the district expects the outlay to be offset over time by sales of surplus property and that favorable May revenue adjustments and investment performance helped blunt the near-term impact on ending fund balance for the closed fiscal year.
Board members thanked the finance team and discussed the need to preserve reserves. Director Chandergari said the district should continue community financial education so residents understand budget trade-offs and the external factors that affect the district’s fiscal outlook. Board members described the interfund transfer as a strategic purchase of an educational asset.
Castaneda characterized the closeout as positive and said the district must do “everything we can to hold on to as much of this healthy condition as is possible.” The presentation showed the district closed the year with revenues and expenses aligned and a fund balance slightly above policy targets, but staff warned the board that future budgets will be challenging if reserves are used to balance spending.
No formal budget adoption or amendment votes were taken at the meeting. The discussion focused on monitoring the district’s financial trajectory, surplus property sales to partially offset the building purchase, and continuing transparency with the public on financial decisions.