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Preliminary FY25 close: district reports smaller-than-projected deficit, $600,000 in late state preschool payments
Summary
Finance staff presented preliminary audited results for fiscal year 2025 and first-quarter comparisons for FY26. Revenues finished slightly above budget after the state issued delayed preschool payments from prior years; expenditures ran modestly over budget in purchase services, leaving a lower-than-projected year‑end deficit.
District finance staff presented preliminary closing figures for fiscal year 2025 and first-quarter figures for FY2026 at the Oct. 22 board meeting.
Auditors were in the district the week of the meeting to review FY25 records; staff said the results presented were preliminary and could shift slightly after audit adjustments. The district reported that property tax and state funding (total program) came in essentially on budget. Finance staff said other state sources included late prekindergarten payments from the Colorado Department of Education that together totaled roughly $600,000 — an amount the district did not anticipate in this fiscal year’s original projections and that improved the district’s revenue position for FY25.
On the expenditure side, salaries and benefits were close to expectations with instruction slightly higher and support slightly lower; purchase services were noted as the main driver of an approximately $344,000 overrun in total expenditures. Staff said the net difference between revenues and expenditures was about $1.6 million preliminary, roughly $700,000 better than the budgeted deficit for FY25.
Quarterly comparisons for the current year show timing effects: state equalization payments are distributed in nine payments rather than 12, which produced front-loaded percentages in the first quarter; local property tax receipts remain heavily concentrated late in the calendar year, so cash-flow planning remains essential. Finance staff stressed that fund balance must be managed as an operational cash-flow tool rather than a static savings account.
Board members asked for clarification on a few coding and categorization items (for example, how property items appear under instructional vs. support categories). Finance staff said they will revisit purchase services midyear and return to the board in December with updated projections once six months of data are available.
No binding fiscal action was required at the Oct. 22 meeting; staff said they will continue monitoring cash flows and will present updated projections at subsequent meetings.
