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Niskayuna preliminary 2024–25 year‑end: carryovers shrink, capital reserve rises by $1.01M
Summary
The district presented a preliminary close for 2024–25 showing $110.3M in expenditures, $109.5M in revenue, maintenance of a 4% unassigned fund balance, a reduction in carryover and a $1.01M allocation to capital reserve; auditors guided an accounting change that moved some IT lease purchases into the general fund under GASB 87.
The NISKAYUNA CENTRAL SCHOOL DISTRICT’s Audit & Finance Committee reviewed a preliminary 2024–25 year‑end summary showing the district ending the year "in a positive place," while discussing accounting changes and reserves.
Speaker 1 said the district finished the year with about $110,300,000 in actual expenditures and about $109,500,000 in actual revenue, and reiterated the district is maintaining an unassigned fund balance at the 4% statutory level. He said the district assigned $2,500,000 in fund balance as part of 2025–26 budget planning.
"We're ending the year in a positive place, with sufficient funds, for the assigned fund balance of 2,500,000.0," Speaker 1 said. He noted two factors that affect the apparent deficit: a $2,400,000 carryover from the prior-year budget and the $2.5M assigned fund balance used in planning. Current‑year carryover was about $1,250,000, which reduced the reserve-capacity impact of the larger prior carryover.
The committee reviewed variances by category. Salaries were about $230,000 under budget; equipment was near budget; contractual and tuition lines produced positive variances; supplies and materials were over budget. Benefits came in $266,000 under budget overall, but Speaker 1 warned of a late‑year uptick in health‑insurance claims that required transfers and may influence the 2026–27 budget.
Auditors recommended an accounting adjustment for IT installment purchases. Speaker 1 described that some IT installment purchases previously recorded in capital projects were recognized this year as general‑fund expenses and that proceeds of lease debt for IT installment purchases were recorded in the general fund following auditor guidance under accounting guidance referenced in the meeting (GASB 87).
On reserves, Speaker 1 said adjustments — including a decrease of $830,000 in the tax cert reserve and smaller carryovers — created capacity to allocate an additional $1,010,000 to the capital reserve as books close for 2024–25. He noted $8,000,000 already allocated to a 2024 capital project is not part of this new capacity. The committee agreed to preview these figures for the full board at its Tuesday meeting and to hear Fiscal Advisors at the next committee meeting for long‑term debt and building aid scenarios.
Next steps: the committee will present the preliminary year‑end results to the full board, solicit any questions at that meeting, and receive a debt/building‑aid briefing from Fiscal Advisors at the next committee meeting.
