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Iredell‑Statesville board hears budget shortfall risks as state budget remains unsettled
Summary
Finance staff told the committee the district faces pressure on fund balance, rising retirement and health‑insurance costs, and enrollment declines that will reduce state revenue; a budget resolution will be voted on at next week’s meeting.
Adam Steele, who presented the district’s 2025–26 budget materials, told the Iredell‑Statesville Schools Committee of the Whole that the district’s total budget is roughly $274,000,000 and that the state portion is about $153,000,000. "Your total budget this year is around 274,000,000 currently," Steele said during the Nov. 3 meeting.
Steele laid out key cost pressures: the employer retirement rate rising from 24.04% to 24.67%, health‑insurance costs per covered person increasing from about $8,095 to $8,500, and continuing upward pressure on substitutes, supplies and utilities. He told board members the local current‑expense budget requires using about $1.8 million from fund balance to balance revenues and expenses; last year the district used roughly $2.1 million.
Board members pressed Steele on the district’s average daily membership (ADM), which he said had fallen by roughly 600 students from the prior year. Steele described how state funding is paid “in arrears” and noted that enrollment thresholds affect midyear adjustments, adding that the district will be funded on its next-year certified student count under the state rules.
Superintendent and board members raised the longer‑term sustainability problem. A board member cited comparative data showing the district receives about $19 million less than similar districts and warned that without additional local revenue the district will likely continue to cut positions. In response, Steele said the administration has worked to reduce contracted employees and will seek other efficiencies, but significant structural pressure remains.
Steele also reviewed the district’s other funds: federal funding returned to a normalized level following one‑time ESSER spending; a capital budget with carryover of about $23.6 million; and school nutrition and scholarship fund balances. He said capital and federal funds are restricted and cannot be transferred to cover local current‑expense needs.
The committee did not vote on the budget that night; Steele said the budget resolution would be a voting item at the board meeting next week. The committee requested continued monthly financial reporting and follow‑up on specific line‑items and the device‑refresh cost estimates that were discussed later in the meeting.
The board scheduled the budget resolution for a vote at next week’s meeting.
