Solanco SD finance director outlines 2026–27 budget plan, warns of rising payroll and retirement costs
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Summary
Sandy Tucker presented the district's 2026–27 budget timeline and projections, noting increases in Ready to Learn funding but continued pressure from payroll, PSERS retirement costs and utilities; the board approved an opt-out resolution to access certain state supplements.
Sandy Tucker, the district's finance presenter, gave a detailed overview of the Solanco School District's budget process for the 2026–27 fiscal year, outlined Pennsylvania Department of Education deadlines and said the district expects modest increases in several state subsidy lines but faces persistent expenditure pressures.
Tucker told the board the district must meet several PDE dates, including a Dec. 15 certification deadline and a Jan. 29 deadline to adopt the accelerated budget and an opt-out resolution. She said the opt-out resolution before the board tonight is a commitment that the district's millage rate for 2026–27 will not exceed the Act 1 index; board members approved that motion on a voice vote.
The presenter said Solanco will receive an increase in the basic education subsidy (about $151,000 more for 2025–26, to roughly $12,762,000) and expects a roughly $42,000 increase in special education subsidy. Tucker also described a substantial increase in Ready to Learn/adequacy funding streams: "This year for 25–26 we will receive additional money through that source, about $581,000 more," she said, bringing the total from that stream to about $1.3 million for the district.
Why it matters: Tucker said the district still relies heavily on local taxes (about 60% of total revenue), which allowed operations to continue during the state budget standoff earlier in the year. At the same time, she warned that payroll and benefits are the largest share of expenditures (about 65%) and that retirement costs will rise sharply. "There is a projected increase of roughly 44% in retirement contributions over the next five years," she told the board, adding that the district is building the 2026–27 budget beginning with the Act 1 index ceiling of 3.5 percent.
Tucker told board members she is projecting a modest 1 percent increase in health insurance costs for the coming year after an unusually low-claim year, but cautioned that claims can change quickly. She also highlighted other expenditure pressures including utilities (a 20 percent electricity increase projected from consortium forecasts), transportation costs that exceed the state subsidy, and potential impacts of charter school tuition reform and the disappearance of the prior cyber school reimbursement.
The board asked clarifying questions about recovery of delayed state funds and about whether recent increases in state grant streams reduce the need to raise local taxes. Tucker said delayed federal/state funds were "coming" and that the district had earmarked fund balances for capital and self-insurance: capital reserves were reported at about $24 million and a hospitalization self-insurance fund at about $4.4 million.
The board voted to approve the opt-out resolution enabling the district to use certain state supplements subject to the Act 1 limit. Tucker said she will continue developing the budget and present more detailed figures as PDE allocations and audit finalizations are completed.
