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Budget committee approves $284.2 million 2026–27 budget; tax rate and levies confirmed
Summary
The Gresham‑Barlow Budget Committee approved the district's 2026–27 proposed budget 9–5, setting fund totals and permanent tax rates to be presented to the full board. Several amendments to shift funds or use reserves failed.
The Gresham‑Barlow School District Budget Committee voted 9–5 on May 13 to approve the proposed 2026–27 budget, establishing the maximum total expenditures for each fund and confirming the permanent tax rate to be presented to the school board at the June 4 hearing.
Finance staff presented fund totals included in the motion: General Fund $185,772,673; Special Revenue Fund $59,950,216; Debt Service Fund $33,833,275; Capital Projects Fund $4,608,000; Total for all funds $284,164,164. The motion also included a permanent tax rate of $4.5268 per $1,000 of taxable property value, estimated to levy approximately $38,963,807 for general fund operations and a Debt Service levy estimated at $24,297,818.
The motion to approve the budget was made by Kris Howatt and seconded by Blake Petersen. Committee discussion after the motion revisited tradeoffs the district must make if the committee asked staff to restore positions (for example, restoring half‑time elementary music would require offsets that could reduce reserves or increase class sizes). Committee members acknowledged community testimony but expressed concern about long‑term stability and the district's projected PERS and payroll pressures.
Chair John Hartsock noted that the committee's statutory role is to adopt fund totals and present the budget to the board; the committee does not approve line items or personnel counts. With the passage of the motion, Hartsock said the committee’s work was complete unless statutory changes required reconvening.
