Octorara proposes $66.5 million 2025-26 budget; local taxes make up two-thirds of revenue

Octorara Area School District officials presented a proposed general fund budget of $66,500,950 for the 2025-26 school year, saying revenues and expenditures are balanced and largely supported by local taxes.

The finance presentation, delivered for the public record, showed local sources account for roughly 66% of general fund revenue (about $43,934,000), state revenue about 32% (roughly $21,500,000), and federal dollars about 2% (just over $1 million). The district reported a general fund balance of roughly $16,000,000 as of the most recent reporting period, after adding about $3 million in November to a June 30, 2024 balance of about $13 million.

Why it matters: The budget frames staff, instructional and facilities spending for the coming year and factors in a revised state funding formula that district staff said produced a net increase for Octorara but remains subject to the state budget process. Because state legislation is sometimes finalized after local budgets must be adopted, presenters said they used conservative assumptions to avoid overstating revenue.

District staff said total expenditures are dominated by salaries and benefits. By function, instruction represents the largest share of spending at about 59% of expenditures; support services account for roughly 29%, financing 11%, and noninstructional operations about 2%. The presentation also highlighted purchase-of-service costs — including tuition to charter schools, which account for a multi‑million dollar expenditure — and ongoing debt service obligations of approximately $5.8 million.

“Sixty‑six percent of our budget comes from our local effort,” the finance presenter said during the review, noting that local sources include real estate assessments and earned income taxes. The presenter added the district does not count grant or interest income in the conservative core revenue figures shown, because those sources are not guaranteed year to year.

Staff explained that the state has revised the basic education funding formula and other allocation factors (average daily membership, local effort and median income among them). The revisions produced an estimated increase for Octorara under the new calculations, but presenters cautioned that the projection depends on final state action.

Board members and committee reports reflected the finance committee’s earlier review of the proposal. The district said the proposed budget shows a roughly 3–4% increase from the current year and that the board will continue to receive multi‑year projections through 2027–2030 as they are developed.

Looking ahead: The presentation did not include a final adopted tax rate or explicit programmatic cuts; board members asked questions about longer-term projections and noted the district will continue to track state budget outcomes before finalizing all related decisions.