Pine‑Richland draft budget shows $2.78M operating gap; board weighs millage increase and structural options

District finance staff presented a draft 2025–26 general fund budget that shows an operating deficit of $2,776,000 and a proposed $6.9 million transfer to capital, prompting discussion of a millage increase, targeted cost reductions and one‑time fund balance uses.

Chris Jeswick led the presentation and said staff built the draft line by line, including personnel and benefits, and that projected expenditures rose primarily from salary and benefits, special‑education tuition, charter school payments and higher energy costs. Jeswick said the draft assumes no millage increase and uses a state budget estimate that raised the district’s state aid projection by about $41,000 versus what staff had budgeted.

Jeswick summarized the numbers: operational revenues of about $107.37 million, operating expenditures of about $110.15 million and a $2.776 million operational deficit. He said the capital funding plan had been reduced from $8.9 million to…