Lebanon schools hear 10-year finance forecast and warnings about post-referendum gap
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Summary
At its reorganization meeting, the Lebanon Community School Corporation board opened a board of finance hearing where business staff presented DUAB fiscal indicators, rising fund balances and a 10-year cash-flow forecast that signals a potential funding shortfall after operating referendum dollars end around 2031.
Mister Dennis, the district’s assistant superintendent for business and operations, told the Lebanon Community School Corporation Board of School Trustees that statutory DUAB (Distressed Unit Appeals Board) fiscal indicators through Dec. 31, 2024, show the district’s fund balances have grown in recent years but that a multi-year forecast points to growing pressure once operating referendum dollars end.
“In 2024 we saw a large growth in fund balances,” Dennis said, then cautioned that the 10‑year forecast — built on seven explicit assumptions — shows the district approaching a fiscal cliff absent additional revenue. The assumptions include a 1% annual increase in most revenues (with the operations levy rising at the 4% statutory cap), 3% annual raises for certified and classified staff, two new teachers added per year, a conservative enrollment-growth estimate, and annual expenditure increases for utilities and supplies.
The presentation explained the district’s cash-on-hand is about 50% of annual expenditures (roughly six months), above the board’s policy benchmark of about 30%. Dennis said that level provided flexibility for large, timing-sensitive obligations such as semiannual property-tax settlements and high insurance deductibles; he noted the district currently faces a roughly $600,000 deductible exposure on the high‑school building in the event of a major wind or hail claim.
Board members questioned assumptions the superintendent staff had used, including an unusually large assumed midyear withdrawal of 27 students embedded in the forecast. Dennis attributed transfers largely to online programs and virtual charters and said the forecast includes a cautious allowance for those losses. He also said the district incorporated known impacts from recent state legislation (identified in the presentation as SEA‑1) where possible but that some elements remain uncertain and therefore conservatively modeled.
Dennis emphasized that the forecast is a working tool; he proposed adding a third monthly financial document to the board’s packet to show how the projected yellow (net change in fund balance) and blue (cash on hand) rows shift as actuals are entered. The board closed the board of finance hearing and resumed regular business without a vote on any new revenue measure. The presentation and Q&A leave the next formal step as additional budget and levy discussions, including monitoring enrollment counts on upcoming ADM (average daily membership) dates and any decision whether to pursue additional referendum revenue.
