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West Chester Area SD projects multi‑million budget reductions, warns of likely tax increase
Summary
Business operations reported $3.3 million in 2025–26 expenditure reductions and a combined set of adjustments that reduce the 2026–27 gap but leave roughly $4.6 million to close; administration said a local millage increase is likely to avoid cuts to classroom instruction.
John Scully, the district’s director of business operations, told the Property & Finance Committee on Jan. 28 that updated budget forecasts include several substantial changes to the 2025–26 and 2026–27 projections.
Scully said the district reduced healthcare spending in the 2025–26 projection by $500,000 based on recent medical‑claims trends and flagged prescription costs, which are currently running about 11% higher year‑over‑year. "We are reducing healthcare by $500,000," he said, while noting prescription trends limit additional reductions.
He described payroll‑related savings after reclassifying components of gross pay for PSERS and Social Security calculations and credited a small decline in the certified PSERS rate (from 34.72% to 33.59%) with producing further savings. Scully reported a $3.3 million reduction in projected 2025–26 expenditures.
On revenue, Scully said current real‑estate receipts improved by about $2 million. He cautioned, however, that a new state adequacy funding formula channels more new dollars to lower‑wealth districts; West Chester is not classified as an adequacy recipient, so the district realized only modest increases from the governor’s budget.
Looking to 2026–27, Scully said salary and benefit adjustments and reduced assumptions narrowed the previously modeled gap, leaving a $2.4 million shortfall in the 2026–27 projection. When combined with the carryforward adjustments and the Act 1 index, the administration estimates an overall funding gap near $4.6 million. "We will obviously have to find the $4,600,000," Scully said, adding that the administration will try to avoid cutting direct instruction and that a tax increase is likely if other savings cannot be found.
Scully also delivered a semiannual review of right‑to‑know (RTK) requests, saying staff spent roughly 30 internal hours and 27 attorney hours on recent requests and citing a corrected attorney/vendor cost of $5,380 for the period reviewed. The board asked staff to continue monitoring RTK trends and to flag any unusual legal costs.
The forecast presentation was informational; the committee recommended the forecast updates be forwarded to the full board for awareness and continuing discussion as the district develops its preliminary budget in April and a final budget in May.
