San Ramon Valley USD budget presentation: district projects $6M deficit next year, awaits state budget details

At a public hearing on the proposed 2025–26 district budget, Assistant Superintendent Danny Hillman outlined the district’s fiscal picture and warned trustees of continuing pressure from declining enrollment and state budget uncertainty.

Hillman said the board‑approved reductions have cut this year’s projected deficit sharply — from about $35–38 million to roughly $6 million for 2025–26 — but the district still faces multi‑year shortfalls under current assumptions. Key assumptions in the draft budget include a 2.3% cost‑of‑living adjustment (COLA), funded ADA of 27,886 (three‑year average), a health‑benefit increase of about 15%, and employer pension rates (CalSTRS 19.10% and CalPERS 26.81%). Under those assumptions, the district projects a $6.0M general‑fund deficit in 2025–26, decreasing to smaller shortfalls in subsequent years under the current multi‑year projection.

Hillman reviewed state‑level drivers: the Governor’s May Revision, Proposition 98 calculations, and volatile capital‑gains‑driven personal income tax receipts that make the state revenue outlook uncertain. He noted the governor proposed withholding about $1.3 billion of Proposition 98 funding pending final revenue results (a step the Legislature initially agreed with in the materials Hillman reviewed), which would reduce per‑pupil allocations if enacted. Hillman also explained program proposals under negotiation — a TK add‑on, learning recovery emergency block grants, and a discretionary student‑support block grant — and said the district’s July 45‑day revision will incorporate final state decisions.

Public comment during the budget hearing included a speaker (identified in the record as "Micada") who disputed an inflation‑beating claim about educator compensation and presented a calculation asserting district compensation growth outpaced local CPI since 2019; Hillman responded with context about enrollment declines, revenue drivers and the district’s plan to wait until July to adjust the budget for enacted state changes.

Hillman emphasized that while the 2.3% COLA is included, declining enrollment reduces the dollar impact of COLA for the district and that many of the governor’s discretionary proposals were not included in the adopted budget pending state action. He recommended the board adopt the budget with the conservative assumptions shown and revisit any new state revenue at the July 45‑day revision.

Next steps: trustees are scheduled to act on the local budget at an upcoming meeting; the district will update the budget at the July 45‑day revision once the state finalizes trailer‑bill language and revenue numbers.