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Blackhawk board warned of rising budget gap as staff weighs millage/index options
Summary
Superintendent presented a multi-year 2024–25 budget projection showing a roughly $1.6 million gap, proposed transfers and millage/index options, and flagged possible state funding that could reduce the shortfall; board members urged expense control while staff refines the plan for votes in May.
Superintendent (Superintendent) presented the district’s 2024–25 fiscal outlook, describing a multi-year forecast that shows a structural shortfall unless the board adopts revenue or expense changes. Staff projected revenues of about $43 million and expenditures around $44.6 million, producing a current-year gap staff estimated at roughly $1.6 million. The superintendent said the proposed budget is still iterative and that a preliminary vote is planned for May with a final vote in mid-May.
Why it matters: the budget presentation traced how federal, state and local revenue streams and mandated costs have created pressure. The district receives roughly $730,000 in federal funds and pays about $1.1 million in charter-school tuition; personnel and benefits account for roughly 70% of total expenditures. Staff said health-care costs rose substantially this cycle (consortium-driven increases to about 19% of related costs) and that the district used a recommended capital transfer of about $1.9 million to shore up fund balances.
Details: staff outlined actuarial and assumption inputs used in the six-year forecast (3% annual salary growth; 5% growth for other operating costs). Absent changes, the unassigned fund balance declines under current assumptions and could be exhausted in the latter part of the forecast window. The superintendent highlighted potential state education funding increases that — if enacted — could add about $500,000 to the district and materially reduce the gap. The district’s unassigned reserve currently sits at about $2.0 million, which staff proposed using in the short term while pursuing other measures.
Board response: Dr. McKenzie pressed for expense controls and warned of long-term effects on homeowners, saying that compounding tax increases can quickly raise the relative cost of living in the district. The business manager explained the health-care consortium’s experience-based rate increase and noted staff are pursuing RFPs and contract negotiations to reduce recurring costs.
What happens next: staff will continue to refine the proposed budget ahead of the board’s preliminary vote in May and the later final action date; administrators and the board said they will track the state budget outcome because any enacted increase to state education funding would change the district’s planning assumptions.
