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Bloomfield Hills Board holds tax-rate hearing, adopts 2025–26 budget with $1.9 million structural gap
Summary
The Bloomfield Hills Schools Board of Education on June 16 held a required public hearing on property tax millages and adopted the district's original 2025'26 budget, a plan that projects about $108 million in spending, roughly $106.2 million in revenue and an approximately $1.9 million structural gap to be covered in part with fund balance.
The Bloomfield Hills Schools Board of Education on June 16 received a public hearing on proposed 2025–26 property tax rates and adopted an original budget for fiscal year 2025–26. Assistant Superintendent of Business Services Candace Moynihan presented the tax-rate disclosure required by state law and summarized the district's revenue and expenditure projections before the board voted to adopt the budget as required by law.
Moynihan told the board the district will levy 18.0 mills for general operating purposes on nonhomestead (nonresidential) property, and a residential (hold-harmless) operating millage she listed as 4.3836 mills. The district will also levy 2.75 mills for debt service and a sinking-fund millage of 0.6907 mills (sinking-fund millage is subject to rollback rules, Moynihan said). Moynihan paused for board questions before presenting the budget numbers.
Why it matters: the district is projecting lower state and local revenue driven by declining enrollment and shifts in property-tax/state-aid interactions, and plans to rely on part of its fund balance to smooth the 2025–26 year. Moynihan described the figures as conservative because the district remains dependent on the Legislature and governor to finalize state funding. By law the board must adopt a budget by July 1.
Key budget figures and assumptions Moynihan presented: - Projected general-fund revenue for 2025'26: about $106.2 million (a decrease of roughly $4.57 million from 2024'25 projection). - Projected general-fund expenditures for 2025'26: about $108.0 million. - Projected 2025'26 structural deficit: roughly $1.9 million. - Projected June 30, 2025 general-fund balance (close of 2024'25): about $23.5 million (roughly 21.3% of expenditures). Moynihan said the district expects to end 2025'26 with roughly $21.5 million (about 20% of expenditures) after a planned strategic use of fund balance. - The presentation also described a recommended $1 million transfer into the general fund from the district's center program fund; $800,000 of that represents an accounting reclassification (previously reported as local revenue), Moynihan said.
Enrollment and state funding uncertainty: Moynihan told the board the district is a declining-enrollment district and the spring cohorts project about 4,920 pupils for 2025'26 (roughly 97 fewer funded FTE than the current year). She said the district currently is funded for just over 5,000 FTE and that the district will update projections in October and again after the state's counts. Moynihan said the district's target foundation allowance for 2025'26 is presented in the packet as $13,835 and that the current foundation allowance in the district's materials is $13,443; she noted a slide typo and said the slide would be corrected.
Other budget notes presented to the board: the district assumed lower interest income on investments in 2025'26 (reducing projected local revenue by roughly $500,000), budgeted the expected reduction in the average blended retirement rate to 28% (from 30.5%), and included contractual assumptions for unsettled collective-bargaining agreements (teachers, building administrators and early-childhood teachers). Moynihan also described the end of federal COVID-era funding and said remaining COVID dollars were removed from recurring revenue.
Board action: After the presentation the board adopted the original 2025'26 budget and approved the final 2024'25 budget revision during the meeting. Both actions were moved, seconded and passed with recorded votes of 6'00.
What happens next: Moynihan said the district will revisit the budget in December and again formally after the October state count; she said administration will bring amendments if state funding or enrollment differs from current estimates.
Speakers quoted or cited in this article include Candace Moynihan, Assistant Superintendent of Business Services; Rick West, Superintendent; and members of the Board of Education at the June 16 meeting.
