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NUSD budget outlook hinges on parcel tax as CFO warns of $6.5 million in possible cuts
Summary
District finance staff told the board the preliminary 2026–27 general fund budget shows structural pressure: enrollment declines and rising program costs mean the district would need to identify roughly $6.5 million in ongoing reductions next year if a parcel tax does not pass.
CFO Joshua Braff presented the Novato Unified School District's preliminary 2026–27 general fund budget and the multi-year projections that follow it, saying the district faces significant choices if local parcel-tax revenue is not confirmed. "We are going to need to identify $6,500,000 of ongoing expenses" for elimination in the following year unless the parcel tax passes, Braff told the board.
Braff walked trustees through key assumptions: projected enrollment of about 7,050 with average daily attendance at 95 percent, a statutory COLA of about 2.87 percent plus a 1.44 percent "super COLA" for the LCFF base, and one-time state discretionary grants estimated at roughly $5,000,000. He emphasized that some revenues are one-time, and cautioned against adding recurring services funded with one-time dollars. "That $5,000,000 is 1 time money. That money won't be available again the next year," a district budget presenter said during the discussion.
Trustees pressed staff on the timeline and magnitude of possible cuts. Braff noted legal deadlines: the district must notify affected positions in March (position-level notices) with individual notices typically issued in May. Trustees said such reductions would be deep and painful, flagging libraries, mental-health services and specialized programs as examples of services likely to be affected if ongoing reductions are required. Trustee comments repeatedly urged transparency to the public about which costs are outside local control (special education, pension changes, enrollment shifts) and asked staff to prepare a 2019 baseline comparison to show how staffing and spending have changed since the pre-pandemic year.
The board will consider budget approvals and related resolutions at upcoming meetings; staff said a resolution identifying reductions would be prepared if parcel-tax revenue is not confirmed. The presentation and trustee Q&A underscored that the parcel-tax election results and state budget details in the summer will meaningfully affect district planning.
