Salt Lake City School District previews budget with $1M special-education boost, higher insurance costs

Business Administrator Alan Kearsley on May 7 laid out the Salt Lake City School District's general fund picture, saying officials expect next year's budget to rely in part on one-time fund balance while absorbing several new costs.

Kearsley said the district is budgeting for step and cost-of-living salary increases, is projecting a 10% rise in health-insurance premiums that the district will cover, and plans to add $1,000,000 to the special-education budget from the minimum school program to address rising service costs. He also noted the end of federal ESSER funding on Sept. 30, 2024, which will reduce federal revenue available for school operations.

"We're budgeting for an increase in the basic rate, which is offset by a decrease in state WPU funds," Kearsley told the board during a 90-minute presentation and slide review. He also warned that interest revenues are volatile and cannot be treated as a reliable ongoing source even though current projections show higher interest receipts.

Board members pressed Kearsley on several details. Board member Christy Sweat thanked staff for the clarity and emphasized that the $1 million maintenance-of-effort transfer into special education is significant: "That's huge," she said, noting that district supplements have offset cuts at state and federal levels.

Board member Ashley Anderson asked where pass-throughs (such as property-tax increments diverted to other development projects) appear in district reports. Kearsley said those amounts are reported in a separate special revenue fund and will be covered at a future meeting; he cited an increase from about $20 million last year to roughly $26 million currently being diverted in bond or TIF-like structures.

Kearsley also reviewed fund-balance policy: unassigned fund balance shows as zero on the budget because state law requires it, though he said conservative budgeting historically results in an actual positive balance at year-end. He outlined reporting by "function" and "object" to show where the money is spent and invited board members to small-group follow-ups ahead of a full budget review and public hearing anticipated for June 4.

Next procedural steps: the board will review the full budget at a future meeting, hold a budget hearing on June 4, and is expected to act on the revised current-year budget, the proposed next-year budget and proposed tax rates that day.

Sources: presentation and Q&A during the May 7 board meeting. The budget will return to the board for further review on May 21 and June 4.