Money Talks - School Budgeting 101

October 18, 2024

John Brucato

Assistant Superintendent of Finance & Operations, Briarcliff Manor UFSD

Dr. Ron Clamser, Jr.

Assistant Superintendent of Finance, Facilities and Operations, Dobbs Ferry UFSD

As we return to the Money Talks webinar series in Education Finance, we want to thank local business officials, John Brucato and Ron Clamser for providing a board level perspective on School Budgeting.

How do you build a school budget?

• Revenues must equal expenditures to provide a balanced budget to taxpayers.
• Budget development starts with the strategic goals of the district, fitting expenditures into the strategic plan and considering what voters are likely to be comfortable with.
• Districts have more control over expenditure cuts than over revenues – need to be conservative when estimating revenues to ensure no budget holes (which could require expenditures cuts during the school year).

What financial support is available to public schools?

• Revenues are available from local sources (mostly property tax), state funding and the federal government.
• A chart of sources of revenue can look very different from district to district.
• Estimates provided for the 2024-25 Property Tax Report Card suggest that in Westput districts property taxes range from 37-92% of proposed spending.
• Consider local sources of revenue beyond property taxes - Does your district receive a portion of the sales tax? Tuition revenue from other districts? Health services for local private and parochial schools?
• State aid includes Foundation Aid, reimbursable aids (also often referred to as expense-based aids) and grants-in-aid. Typically, reimbursable aids are based on the prior year’s eligible expenditures.
• Fund balance can be used to smooth out expense fluctuations (e.g., retirement reserve), or save for specific expenditures (e.g., debt service or capital reserve). Using fund balance to balance the budget can create a revenue hole in the next year, if the expenditures are recurring.

How do we look at school district expenditures?

• When looking at expansive budget books, consider using the “cheat sheet” provided to understand the numbering system of budget codes.
• Implicitly or explicitly, many school district budgets are built on a “rollover” basis – considering last year’s expenditures and adjusting to account for changes in the coming year.
• Salary and benefits are the largest expenditure item for school districts – typically 70-75% of budgeted expenses.

How and when does the district budget get developed?

• Districts will typically release their budget calendar and begin discussing budgeting plans in October/November.
• District officials will pay careful attention to the state aid runs from the Governor’s Executive Budget released in January and will have the tax levy cap calculation submitted to the Comptroller's office by March 1^st.
• Board requirements for the timing of adoption, budget hearings and the budget vote are outlined in the 2025 Timeline for School Budget Vote and Election.
• Expect to see many iterations of your district’s budget in the early spring as additional information becomes available to school business offices. 

Plan to spend time during budget season considering the implications of the school district proposed budget based on the strategic goals and initiatives of your district and the support of your community.