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Wenatchee School District posts $13.2M ending fund balance for 2024–25; transfers to capital for HVAC and roof work reduce reserves
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Summary
Executive Director Sean Fitzgerald told the board the district closed fiscal 2024–25 with about $127.5M in revenue and an ending fund balance near $13.2M, but drew down reserves roughly $1.9M and transferred funds into capital projects for high‑school HVAC and roofing repairs.
The Wenatchee School District reported its 2024–25 fiscal year results to the board on Nov. 1, with Executive Director of Business and Finance Sean Fitzgerald saying the district finished the year with roughly $127.5 million in revenue (about 99% of a $129.1 million budget) and an ending fund balance near $13.2 million.
Fitzgerald told the board the year included several one‑time and structural changes: federal ESSER pandemic funds were exhausted (reducing federal special‑purpose revenue), the state altered treatment of federal forest payments that reduced expected receipts, and new lease‑accounting rules required booking present‑value amounts for leases on the books. Those accounting items changed how some capital and operating lines appear in the financial statements.
On expenditures, the district reported about $128.6 million in spending, with salaries and benefits comprising roughly 83% of the outlays. Purchases and contracts rose in part due to increased running‑start enrollment and associated college contract costs; capital outlay reflected lease accounting and one‑time project activity.
Fitzgerald said the district’s ending fund balance was ‘‘better than budget’’ by roughly $2.7 million but noted a net drawdown of approximately $1.9 million during the year. That drawdown included a $350,000 transfer from the general fund back into the capital projects fund to cover unanticipated high‑school HVAC and roofing repairs identified in August. He said the board’s previously adopted resolution allows the district to use committed fund balance to offset budget reductions and that the district continues to monitor reserves closely.
Other details Fitzgerald provided included a preliminary 2026 assessed value figure cited by the district’s finance adviser and the district’s completion of a refinancing in March 2024 that saved taxpayers about $6.6 million in interest over nine years. Fitzgerald recommended continued prudence and noted that the district’s fund balance timing (property tax receipts in October and April) affects cash flow and reserve draws during the school year.
Board members asked questions about projections, refinancing flexibility and how bond planning could affect long‑term rates. Fitzgerald and staff said they will return with further analyses as the board refines decisions about potential capital authorizations.
