Superintendent presents budget assumptions as district braces for inflation, staffing and student‑need pressures

Superintendent Don Keegan told the North Syracuse Central School District board that inflation and rising personnel costs will be central to next year’s budget planning. “Inflation for the last 12 months is about 2.7%,” Keegan said, and because the district is constrained by a 2% tax‑levy cap, “we're going to absorb another point 7% of inflation that we can't pass on in the tax levy.”

Keegan said enrollment has stabilized modestly — the district has about 40 more students than in June 2023 — but that needs among students have increased. He gave the district’s current figures: 46.1% of students eligible for free or reduced‑price lunch, 19.1% of students with individualized education programs and 2.4% identified as English‑language learners. “While enrollment’s down, the level of complexity is up,” Keegan said, arguing those trends should be front and center in budget deliberations.

On revenues, Keegan said roughly 90% of district funding comes from general state aid and property taxes and that no federal stimulus funds are included in the current budget baseline. He warned that the allowable levy increase will not fully offset cost pressures: health benefits, retirement contributions and negotiated salary increases together drive about 75% of expenditures. Keegan told the board he expects health care costs to rise by about 8–9% next year and noted TRS and ERS retirement contribution projections.

Keegan reviewed the district’s fund balance and reserves. He said the district ended the prior year with about $10,000,000 in fund balance (roughly 4.72% of the budget) and that, if revenues and spending track plan, the district should finish the year near that level. He outlined reserve amounts the district is carrying or planning to hold, including a $2.3 million tax‑certiorari reserve, a $4.2 million workers’ compensation reserve, roughly $8.2 million in a capital reserve and an employee benefits liability reserve, totaling about $27.9 million in reserves at year end.

Keegan closed by laying out the budget calendar: the district will present the governor’s budget proposals to the board on Jan. 27, aim to complete the initial budget in February, return with updates through March, seek board approval on April 21 and hold the budget vote May 20. “There’ll be more as we move through the process,” he said.

The board did not take any immediate policy action on the assumptions but will use Keegan’s presentation as the basis for detailed budget proposals this winter.