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District warns of state budget shortfalls, urges permission to seek more local funding
Summary
Minnetonka finance director Paul Bourgeois briefed the board on a worsening state fiscal outlook, citing large projected structural shortfalls that could force program reductions; the district is pressing for more local optional revenue authority and continued community advocacy.
Paul Bourgeois, executive director of finance and operations for Minnetonka Public Schools, told the board the state faces a multibillion-dollar structural budget imbalance and outlined the potential local impacts on district programming and staff.
Bourgeois said the state Department of Management and Budget projects a structural imbalance of roughly $3.3 billion for fiscal 2026-27 and about $6.5 billion for fiscal 2028-29; he told the board those figures reflect a statewide shortfall that will make it difficult for K-12 funding to keep pace with inflation and salary pressures. He compared the current multi-year shortfall to the period after the Great Recession and described the current four-year gap as nearly as large in dollars.
Bourgeois listed potential local impacts discussed at the Capitol and in staff analysis: elimination or reduction of targeted state aids (he cited a proposed cut to the literacy incentive aid with an estimated local impact of about $687,000 for the district), a proposed 5% reduction in special education transportation funding (about $100,000 locally), and elimination of the school library line (about $200,000). He said the governor—s budget also proposed eliminating the alternative teacher compensation program beginning in fiscal 2027 (estimated $3 million statewide impact in the proposal) and that prorations have already affected special education revenue (he cited a current proration to about 95% of formula funding, or roughly $1 million less than formula entitlements for the district).
Superintendent David Law and several board members described active community advocacy for additional local optional revenue authority. Law and Bourgeois said the district has asked the legislature for increased local optional revenue permission so Minnetonka can raise targeted local funds if state aid remains constrained. Bourgeois noted that the district has pursued this option in multiple sessions and that passage requires state-level equalization decisions that are politically difficult in a tight budget year.
Board members thanked Bourgeois for the clear presentation and urged continued community outreach; several directors encouraged parents and community members to continue contacting legislators. Bourgeois said the district is planning additional budgeting work to prepare for possible state reductions and will continue to press for the option to request local funding.
