Board hears budget briefing as administrators outline $43.28 million general fund and health-care-driven levy increase

Ms. Coleman, the district business administrator, told the board the proposed general fund budget totals $43,283,794 and that the local tax levy component reflects a 6.43% increase driven largely by health-care costs. She said the software mechanism forces qualified health-care adjustments to be included in the levy as a pass-through and quantified the district's total tax increase as about $1,529,852 over last year. "The total budget for the general fund is $43,283,794," Ms. Coleman said.

The business administrator said the district faced a roughly $1.2 million revenue shortfall and rising costs of $3.3 million and has cut approximately $3.3 million in expenses to produce a legally balanced budget. She explained the district is also withdrawing $136,000 from the capital reserve to provide a local match on a Department of Community Affairs tennis-court grant and $52,807 from the maintenance reserve for roof and water‑infrastructure work.

Ms. Coleman noted the district's special revenue (grant) fund and debt-service obligations in the budget and said food-service operations have turned positive by about $28,000 after reconciliation work with Nutriserve and school principals. She recommended submitting the budget to the county office for review "as required by law" and said the board will receive a fuller presentation on Monday that will describe the locations and categories of the budget cuts.

Board members asked for clarification on the health‑care adjustment and how the levy mechanism works. A member summarized the exchange by observing that the $1,054,000 figure cited is the health‑care adjustment alone and that an additional 2% cap on the levy accounts for the remainder; Ms. Coleman confirmed that explanation and repeated that the adjustment is effectively a pass‑through when qualified. Several members discussed the state aid calculation and noted a 3% statutory cap that limited the district's year‑to‑year state‑aid loss compared with larger reductions the state formula would otherwise produce.

The board did not record a formal vote on the budget during this session; Ms. Coleman said the balanced budget will proceed to the county/state review process and be the subject of the Monday presentation. The meeting moved into committee of the whole for further discussion earlier in the evening and later reconvened without a public vote on the budget.