Board approves transfers totaling $2.02 million to offset circuit‑breaker revenue losses

The Lake Central School Corporation board on July 13 approved a resolution to move funds between accounts to blunt revenue losses tied to recent state legislation known in the meeting as SEA 1.

Director of Business Services Mr. James told the board that the Department of Local Government Finance (DLGF) calculated an operations-fund revenue loss of $2,024,726.55 for 2026 due to circuit-breaker provisions. To offset that projection, he said the district would transfer $480,992.41 from the debt service fund and $1,543,734.14 from the referendum fund into the operations fund; the resolution would be retroactive to June when the district received its tax draw. "In summary, I'm looking to get secure approval on transferring $480,992.41 from the debt service fund to the operations fund ... and then the difference of $1,543,734.14 from the referendum fund to the operations fund to offset those circuit breaker revenue losses here for 2026," Mr. James said.

Board members asked whether the transfers were required by the state or a local decision. Mr. James said the transfers were not a state requirement for all districts and that many districts lack resources to take this approach; Lake Central increased its referendum rate last fall and is using that revenue to offset the projected losses. He warned that future years could see larger losses—he said next year the district’s circuit-breaker impact could exceed $4 million—and reiterated that the transfers reflect a one-time response this year using available referendum and debt-service resources.

The board approved the resolution by voice vote. Mr. James also provided a quarterly financial update showing a positive year-end cash flow in the education fund and a $5.5 million net positive across key funds, but he cautioned that much of that amount reflected referendum receipts and a large tax settlement on June 28, which the district intends to set aside for future years.