Susan, the district business manager, told the board Tuesday that Punxsutawney finished the fiscal year with revenues exceeding expenses and a healthy fund balance that should let the district continue operations through January despite the state budget impasse.

She reviewed the annual financial report (AFR), summarized ESSER-funded programs that are closing out this fiscal cycle and noted the district's historically strong real-estate-tax collection rate of about 91–92 percent. Susan said there will be a loss of investment income as the state budget situation reduces the district'9s ability to invest tax receipts, and she estimated that lost investment income could reach a six-figure impact in aggregate.

On payments to cyber-charter schools, Susan said the district has held back some payments "because I didn't want them to go after our BEF (basic education funding)." She said she released a partial payment to avoid the vendor filing to collect directly from state funding but that the district intends to retain invoice oversight and avoid automatic draws on state allocations.

The board also heard that the 2026–27 budget process has begun and that administrators are asking departments to submit requests ahead of the holiday break so budget development can proceed.

Why this matters: Fund balance, tax collections and vendor-payment practices affect the district's ability to provide services and weather state budget uncertainty. Holding payments while auditing invoices preserves local control of expenditures but can raise short-term vendor relations issues.