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Forest Lake board approves FY25‑26 budget revision; staff previews FY26‑27 assumptions and LTFM adjustments
Summary
The board approved a FY25‑26 budget adjustment that included an $818,000 ADM revenue true‑up, a roughly $1 million special‑education tuition adjustment that increased revenue, and other timing shifts; staff previewed the FY26‑27 budget, noting a 2.68% per‑pupil increase, an expected LTFM adjustment and a projected enrollment decline.
The Forest Lake Public School District board approved a FY25‑26 budget revision after a staff presentation and roll‑call vote. Director Emmerling told the board the revision reflected a combination of year‑end adjustments and carryforward expenses and that, overall, preliminary figures cut the district’s anticipated deficit roughly in half.
Key budget revision highlights presented by Director Emmerling and the finance staff included:
- An $818,000 revenue true‑up attributable to average daily membership (ADM) reconciliations from FY25. - A nearly $1 million positive adjustment in special‑education tuition revenue driven by fewer out‑of‑district placements than anticipated (the district examined individual placements and confirmed the reduction). Staff described this as an uncommon but material anomaly. - Addition of summer‑unemployment revenue for FY26 (a one‑time state provision) that will not continue in FY27. - Increased medical‑assistance reimbursements tied to a new staff position that has improved claim capture (estimated as roughly a half‑million dollars in additional revenue to date). - Expenditure timing shifts moved some capital and contracted services into FY26 (bus lease timing, middle‑school renovations, grounds equipment) and adjusted salary and benefit projections; in total staff said a previously projected million‑dollar shortfall had been reduced to roughly $500,000 based on the revisions.
Board members sought clarification on how carryforward spending (projects ordered but not completed in FY25) affects reported fund balance, the reliability of special‑education tuition projections and the implications if projected numbers change after the final audit. Director Emmerling explained that accounting practice—actual completion and payment dates and the annual audit—drive final recognition and that assigned/reserved fund‑balance accounting can be used to reflect items already budgeted but not yet expended.
The motion to approve the FY25‑26 budget adjustment was moved, seconded and approved by roll-call: Member Antonsen, Member Castle, Member Corcoran, Member Reveline, Member Christensen and Member Tyson voted in favor.
Staff also presented a first reading of the FY26‑27 budget. Director Lombardi summarized assumptions that will inform the final budget slated for approval before June 30: a 2.68% increase in per‑pupil funding tied to CPI, an enrollment estimate that shows a net loss (the revised FY26 estimate reduced by 67 students), the ending of the summer‑unemployment funding after FY26, and a planned LTFM adjustment tied to the district’s 1A status that will reduce the district’s unrestricted fund balance as it is applied. Directors said they are still evaluating whether to schedule a minor bond sale in FY27 and noted facilities projects (Forest View interior work; Wyoming maintenance building) being planned for upcoming summers.
The board asked staff to return any additional detail needed to finalize the FY26‑27 appropriation and to track LTFM timing and audit impacts that affect reserves.
