Riverside treasurer urges board to adopt 5-year forecast as state shortens required window

Riverside Local Schools’ treasurer recommended the board adopt a resolution instructing the district to continue preparing a five‑year financial forecast even though the state will require only a three‑year forecast.

The treasurer told the finance and personnel committee the three‑year horizon required by the Ohio Department of Education is too short for practical planning and borrowing needs, and that producing a five‑year forecast for local use while submitting a three‑year version to the state is the recommended approach.

The recommendation matters because new state law and rule changes shift deadlines and reporting requirements that the treasurer’s office said will concentrate heavy workloads into a narrow window next summer. The treasurer said the district must meet an earlier deadline this year (FY26 forecast due Oct. 15) and that by fiscal year 2027 the five‑year forecast will be due Aug. 31, leaving little time between final appropriations and forecast submissions.

Finance staff summarized several state…