East Stroudsburg outlines large budget shortfalls, debt service and capital needs
Get AI-powered insights, summaries, and transcripts
Subscribe
Summary
Superintendent reported multi-million-dollar deficits (previous year actual deficit ~ $10.2M; current-year projected deficit reduced from ~$26.5M to ~$16M after debt restructuring and additional state revenue) and warned the district's fund balance is being rapidly consumed; board discussed debt-service cliffs and capital projects funding constraints.
Superintendent presented a district-level budget briefing that highlighted structural pressures and multi-year capital needs. For the 02/24/25 school year the district anticipated revenue near $186 million and expenditures near $203 million (an approved deficit around $17.4 million). The AFR showed an actual deficit of roughly $10.2 million for that year.
For the current fiscal year the superintendent reported an approved budget with revenues of about $187.5 million and expenditures of roughly $214 million (a gap initially presented as ~ $26.5 million). After debt restructuring (which the superintendent said reduced expenditures by about $9 million) and other revenue adjustments, the projected deficit narrowed toward approximately $16 million, but the districtfund balance remains under pressure (the superintendent stated it fell from about $51 million to an anticipated $24.6 million if current conditions persist).
Patelli warned that about 75% of the budget is personnel and that many costs are fixed. She said the board had discussed debt-service timing with projections showing a near-term cliff followed by several years of higher payments before a drop in the 2030s; she urged the board that either expenditures or revenues must change to stabilize the budget.
The superintendent also listed capital needs across district buildings (multiple partial roof replacements, domestic hot-water systems, boilers, and other infrastructure). She said roughly $13 million currently sits in the capital fund earmarked for near-term work and should not be counted as available for large renovations such as a full JM Hill rebuild without separate planning.
Board members asked clarifying questions about tax-mill history, federal funding pass-through and whether previously-used fund-balance sources had been replenished; district staff said some revenue shifts and restructuring have improved the current-year outlook but significant fiscal choices remain ahead.