Board approves FY25 budget amendment, bond bid packages and district radios

The Bloomfield Hills School Board of Education voted Dec. 16 to adopt the first amendment to the district's 2024-25 general fund budget and to approve a series of bond-funded construction contracts and equipment purchases, including district emergency radios funded through the state Section 31a grant.

The adopted amendment raises projected revenues to $108,800,000 and reduces recommended expenditures to $108,500,000, producing a recommended surplus of $276,000 and an estimated year-end fund balance of about $22.9 million (roughly 21 percent of the general fund), according to Candice Moynihan, assistant superintendent for business services. "We are recommending revenue of 108,800,000. Expenses are 108,500,000 ... recommending a surplus of 276,000," Moynihan told the board during her presentation.

Board members said the surplus reflects several one-time adjustments and shifts in how retirement and other state pass-through funds flowed this year. Moynihan told the board that retirement-related pass-through funding and other adjustments reduced net state revenue relative to the original budget but that the district also received one-time retirement rebates and stronger-than-expected interest income. She told trustees the district is up about 25 full-time-equivalent students from the original projection and that the state-funded Great Start Readiness Program (GSRP) expansion will add six preschool classes this year, serving 92 four-year-olds.

Trustees and staff highlighted several items in the amendment and in related votes on the Dec. 16 consent and construction agenda: approval of bid packet 11 (elementary renovations), bid packet 13 (Blooming West robotics renovation), an RFP award for asbestos abatement (RFP 1049), and the award of a contract for additional district emergency radios. The board approved each procurement or award by formal motion; where vote tallies were recorded the measures passed unanimously.

Moynihan also told trustees the district is watching two budget risks: (1) a drop in state mental-health/security grant funding compared with earlier years and (2) possible health-insurance cost increases tied to changes in state law. "This will be another significant cost pressure going into next year," she said of potential health insurance adjustments, adding the projected effect would be in the low hundreds of thousands of dollars depending on timing and legislation.

Board members said they expect staff to bring updated multi-year projections and staffing recommendations to the finance subcommittee in early 2025 to align budget choices with the district's forthcoming strategic plan.

Votes at a glance

- FY25 general fund budget amendment No. 1: approved (motion carried; recorded vote 7-0). - Consent agenda (routine items): approved (7-0). - Bid packet 11: elementary schools phase 3 renovations (bond fund): approved (7-0). - Bid packet 13: Blooming West robotics renovation (bond fund): approved (7-0). - RFP 1049: asbestos abatement at Blooming West Robotics and International Academy (bond fund): approved (7-0). - Purchase of additional district emergency radios (Mobile Communications America; paid from general fund using Section 31a grant funds): approved (7-0). - Miscellaneous smaller purchases and textbook approvals referenced on the agenda: approved as listed (7-0). - Second reading and adoption of board policy updates recommended by legal counsel: approved (7-0). - Amended 2024-25 Board meeting calendar (organizational meeting time change and June meeting date adjustment): approved (7-0).

What this means

Board members and staff described the amendment as a prudent, conservative update that incorporates higher-than-expected enrollment this fall, a material state preschool (GSRP) award that expanded free preschool locally, and one-time accounting adjustments related to retirement funding. Staff emphasized that several of the positive adjustments are one-time or transitional; recurring revenue challenges (notably declining pupil membership and reduced grant levels for mental health/security) will be the focus of strategic budget planning in early 2025.

The board also authorized a series of bond-era construction and renovation contracts to proceed from the 2020 bond fund and authorized purchase of radios to put all school staff on a single interoperable radio tier. The radio purchase was paid with federal/state Section 31a mental health and security grant money designated for safety and student-support activities.

Context and next steps

Moynihan told the board that a legislative change under consideration could raise employer health insurance caps and increase district costs next year; staff will return with updated multi-year projections, including options for aligning operating priorities with the strategic plan the board will launch in early 2025. The district will also report enrollment counts after the February count and update projections then.

Ending

Trustees approved the budget amendment and the package of bond-era contracts and purchases as part of a longer meeting that also included student recognitions and a student-led civility project; staff will return to the finance and operations subcommittee and to the full board with detailed next-year scenarios and recommended alignments to the district strategic plan.