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District finance director outlines 2026-27 preliminary budget and five-year outlook
Summary
Finance staff presented a preliminary 2026-27 budget with a roughly 5.3% starting increase in expenses driven by salaries, benefits and a proposed $500,000 transfer to capital; five-year projections show thin surpluses in a baseline scenario but potential deficits if health-insurance costs rise.
The district's budget presenter laid out the preliminary fiscal 2026-27 plan and a five-year outlook, saying the starting assumption for expenses is about a 5.3% increase and projected revenues of roughly 4.3%.
"Overall, we're looking at about 5.3%" was the presenter's summary of the starting point for expense assumptions. The presenter said salaries and benefits remain the biggest drivers: a 3% overall salary baseline, a projected 3.79% increase for professionals next year and a benefits assumption initially budgeted near 6.8% driven by a roughly 10% health-insurance renewal quote.
The presentation included scenario modeling that assumes a $500,000 transfer from general fund to capital projects in the plan year; under that assumption, fund-balance projections show modest surpluses under a baseline path but risk moving toward deficits if health-insurance costs or other major line items increase materially. The presenter said district five-year projections use 10-year averages for many line items to smooth COVID-era distortion.
Revenue drivers discussed included assessed-property-value increases (subject to pending appeals that could reduce the district's tax base) and state-proposed basic-education and adequacy funding increases; the presenter estimated a roughly $130,000 net gain from the state proposals under current assumptions. Transportation and earned-income tax trends were also addressed.
Board members asked clarifying questions about debt-service assumptions, printer and technology costs, and the potential effect of changing devices on software and professional development. The presenter flagged a possible 5% increase in support-staff salaries in the projection that includes new positions (an additional school police officer, two aides and a maintenance position) and said the district's remaining debt principal is about $31.62 million with annual debt service near $2.7 million after retiring a smaller loan.
Next steps: staff will update the budget as new information becomes available, bring another update to the board in April and present the proposed final in May with adoption in June as required by schedule.
