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CUSD finance director previews 2026–27 draft budget, projects reserve growth but flags settlement-related expenses
Summary
District finance staff presented a draft 2026–27 budget showing a projected unrestricted reserve rising from roughly 7.7% to about 13.5% under current assumptions, while warning that unsettled salary negotiations and recurring legal and special-education costs could reduce that projection.
District finance presenter Jason walked the board through the proposed 2026–27 draft budget, explaining revenue assumptions, expenditure drivers, and a multi-year projection that shows reserves increasing if current assumptions hold.
Jason said the LCFF cost-of-living adjustment used in the plan was updated to 2.87% and that property-tax growth was projected at 4%. He summarized statutory benefit and pension rate increases and noted that a 1% salary increase equals roughly $200,000 in total cost to the district under his assumptions. Jason said his projection would produce an estimated unrestricted reserve of about 13.53% for 2026–27, up from an estimated 7.71% at the end of the 2025–26 fiscal year — but he cautioned that unresolved salary negotiations (listed in the slide deck as "TBD") could reduce those reserves once settled.
Board members pressed Jason for assumptions behind projected expenditure increases; he said salary growth in the multi-year forecast uses step-and-column movement plus a rough 3% average and that other cost drivers (utilities, maintenance) were modeled at about 2–2.5% where applicable. He also clarified an accounting point: a non-recurring $4.2 million transfer from a property sale was used in the prior year to pay AB218 claims, creating a spike in both revenues and expenditures that will not repeat in the same way in future years.
The finance presentation also highlighted special-education spending: projected special-education revenue of about $2.3 million against estimated expenditures around $7.9 million for 2025–26, requiring a substantial general-fund contribution. Jason said those structural deficits are part of the reason the district must plan carefully for multi-year stability.
Why it matters: The draft budget frames the district’s near-term fiscal choices as the board and negotiators approach 2026–27 salary bargaining. Legal settlements and special-education expenditures were cited as major cost pressures that have affected reserves in recent years.
What’s next: The district will hold a public hearing on the budget and LCAP on June 9 and is scheduled to adopt the budget on June 16; Jason told the board he will update numbers if negotiations or new revenue information warrant revisions.
