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Finance staff previews 2026'27 budget; projects roughly 16% general-fund balance and $9M debt service
Summary
Finance presenter Nicole Blacker gave a preliminary 26'27 budget outlook: ending 25'26 general-fund balance estimated at 16.94%, projected 26'27 balance about 16.04%, $250 per-pupil increase assumed, blended student count 2,253, and debt service next year above $9 million.
Nicole Blacker (finance presenter) gave the Chelsea Board of Education an overview of year-end 2025'26 estimates and preliminary assumptions for the 2026'27 budget. She said the district's estimated 25'26 general-fund balance percentage is 16.94% and that preliminary estimates for 26'27 show a projected fund-balance percentage about 16.04%, with an estimated $6.1 million in fund equity.
Key assumptions she listed include a blended student count of 2,253, a $250 increase in per-pupil state funding, modest increases in teaching staff (partially grant-funded), some reductions in paraprofessionals offset by added interventionists, and a 3% estimated increase in health-insurance costs. Blacker said the 25'26 numbers were elevated by one-time pension revenue that will not recur in full next year, and she removed carryover grant money from prior years when building 26'27 estimates.
On special funds, Blacker projected food service will draw down about $66,000 next year and noted the free-meal program will continue. Community education activity was presented at about $2.2 million in activity; student-activity accounts collectively hold roughly $700,000 across about 90 accounts. She also reported next year debt-retirement payments (principal and interest) are expected to exceed $9 million, driven in part by the 2025 bond issuance; capital-project interest and earned interest on unspent capital funds are tracked separately.
Blacker said the operating millage will be levied at the full 18 mills and that the sinking-fund levy will see a minor rollback calculation because taxable value rose faster than inflation. She walked the board through how transfers and CTE-state funds (an updated estimate of roughly $445,000) will offset some CTE teacher wages, benefits and transportation costs.
Board members asked clarifying questions about activity-revenue assumptions, the timing of one-time revenues, and the use of the L-4029 millage form. Blacker said the district will continue monitoring state budget developments and will present a full recommended budget at the public hearing scheduled later in June.
