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Fairport Central flags rising health and retirement costs; overall debt service decline eases tax cap pressure
Summary
District staff told the board that health insurance premiums drove the largest benefits increase (projected about 12.5% year to year), ERS rates are projected higher and TRS slightly up; workers' compensation decreased. Staff also said debt service is projected to fall by roughly $541,000 due to prior refunding and phasing of 2019 capital debt.
Fairport Central School District staff reviewed the non‑instructional portions of the preliminary budget, highlighting increases in health insurance and retirement contributions and an offsetting decrease in debt service.
Matt, staff member, told the board that the largest single driver among benefits was health insurance, projected at "about a 12.5% budget‑to‑budget increase." He said the district budgets health costs by calendar year and accounts for potential open‑enrollment changes that can affect plan selection and premiums. "This is by calendar year, not our academic year," Matt said when explaining how January plan changes feed into the budget projections.
Why it matters: benefits and retirement contribution changes affect the district’s operating budget and therefore the calculation of the local tax levy subject to the tax cap. The board must monitor January and February premium bills and finalize contribution rate assumptions before adopting a budget.
Pension and workers' compensation details
Staff noted projected changes to employer contribution rates for state retirement systems. "Average contribution rate for ERS from 15.2 to 16.5%," Matt said, describing the projected ERS rate increase used for budgeting. For TRS, staff projected a smaller net budget impact because TRS contribution is a percent of wages; Matt said the TRS budget line showed a projected increase of about $175,000 (roughly 3.3%). Workers' compensation costs declined because the consortium used a multi‑year experience rating that dropped a higher prior year off the average.
Overall numbers and debt service
Matt summarized that "overall all benefits together about 3,970,000.00" as a driver of the non‑instructional budget increase. On the debt side, he said the district expects a net decrease in debt service of about $541,000 because a 2015 refinancing lowered payments on an older borrowing while phased debt from the 2019 capital improvement project will increase in later years. Staff reminded the board that some debt and aid changes factor into the tax cap calculation because the local share for eligible items can be raised within the levy limit.
Next steps and uncertainty
Staff said several lines remain subject to refinement: health insurance (watch January/February bills), actual salary totals used to compute ERS/TRS and FICA benchmarks, and a few carry‑forward purchase orders that affect adjusted budgets. Matt said staff would monitor bills and update the board as new numbers arrive during budget development. No formal budget adoption occurred at this meeting; the discussion was part of first‑pass budget development.
