Lansing Public School District board approves Budget Amendment No. 1, projects $48.3 million June fund balance

The Lansing Public School District Board of Education on Dec. 2024 approved Budget Amendment No. 1, a revision to the district’s fiscal 2024–25 budget that raises the district’s projected general fund balance for June 2025 to roughly $48.3 million.

District staff presented the amendment during the board’s regular meeting. The presentation said the audited fund balance increased by $7.4 million above the adopted June projection of $40.1 million. After recognizing additional revenue and expenditure changes — including $1.5 million in net increased revenues and $776,000 in additional expenditures — staff reported a conservative projected fund balance of about $48.3 million for June 2025.

The amendment summary identified sources and uses behind the change. Revenues grew in several categories, including property taxes, miscellaneous revenues and rebates, “ISD taxes,” Medicaid hold‑harmless payments and an incoming transfer from capital projects. The presentation noted a roughly $4.0 million incoming transfer from the capital projects fund that reimbursed the general fund, and a larger movement of capital funding to cover ongoing capital needs. The report also said program savings and school loan repayments contributed to the net change.

Staff flagged some one‑time items that inflate the current year’s expenditures: purchases tied to capital projects (including 15 new buses supported by EPA bus rebates), outgoing transfers to capital projects to cover rollover construction, and other project carryovers that will be completed in coming months. The presentation also identified staffing cost increases of about $2.5 million — attributed mainly to administrators on special assignment, negotiated salary increases and substitute staffing related to employee leave — and program investments and reimbursements to schools.

District presenters described the amendment as a conservative estimate and said they expect additional adjustments as the year progresses. Board members asked clarifying questions about whether food‑service changes addressed audit findings, the one‑time nature of transportation and outgoing transfer increases, and why the district did not receive an expected $100 per pupil increase in state foundation aid. Staff answered that the food‑service accounting issue was separate, that bus and capital transfers were one‑time project costs, and that the state did not provide the per‑pupil increase the district had anticipated when preparing the original budget.

After discussion, Trustee Rosalyn Williams moved to adopt Budget Amendment No. 1; the motion was seconded and approved by voice vote, recorded as 8–0 in favor.

The board’s action updates the official appropriations and authorizes the district to recognize the identified revenue and expenditure changes for the current fiscal year. Staff said the amendment content will be reflected in the district’s audited statements when they are presented later in the fiscal cycle.

Aspects not specified in the presentation include precise line‑by‑line accounting detail for every school carryover and the final disposition of some pending capital projects; staff said those items will be tracked in subsequent reports to the board.