Ontario SD 8C budget committee adopts 2026–27 proposed budget with new PERS and health‑benefits reserves

The Ontario SD 8C budget committee approved the district’s proposed 2026–2027 budget after a presentation from district staff and a brief committee discussion. The budget sets an unappropriated ending fund balance policy target of 12 percent and includes a $2 million package of transfers to reserve accounts intended for building, equipment and technology replacement.

District staff framed the budget around three pillars — fiscal stewardship, academic innovation and student and staff well‑being — and told the committee the proposal is based on the second year of the 2025–27 biennium, which supplies roughly 51 percent of state school fund allocations for the district. Staff noted enrollment declines statewide and locally, and said Ontario’s weighted ADM is projected to be just over 3,000 students for the upcoming year (down from an extended ADM‑W of 3,140 last year).

To blunt long‑term cost volatility the budget creates a formal PERS reserve account and funds it with a $500,000 transfer in the current year, with another $500,000 planned for the 2026–27 biennium to reduce exposure to PERS-rate increases. Staff also described a shift from a composite insurance rate to tiered insurance rates, an administrative change projected to generate near‑term savings that will be placed into a new health‑benefits fund to offset future premium increases.

The proposal lists a $94 million total budget with approximately $54 million in expected incoming revenue and a $48 million general fund. Key revenue lines called out during the presentation included estimated property‐tax receipts of about $5.3 million and a state school‑fund share of about $30 million; staff also noted a $16.7 million bond that is scheduled to expire next June and which will reduce ongoing revenue unless a new bond is approved by voters.

Committee members questioned staffing and FTE placement across grants versus the general fund; staff said roughly a dozen positions will not be refilled in the general fund this cycle as part of a people‑first right‑sizing strategy that leverages attrition rather than involuntary reductions. Staff explained that many programmatic positions are retained in federal and state grants and that those FTEs remain relatively stable.

A correction to Medicaid reimbursement accounting was presented during the meeting: staff acknowledged an earlier double‑counting of approximately $400,000 in Medicaid funds and provided an insert to fix the error in the materials. The district described its process for quarterly reconciliation with the ESD that manages Medicaid billing.

After discussion the committee member moved to approve the proposed 2026–2027 budget; a second was offered and the committee took a voice vote. The committee approved the proposal as presented; the transcript records a voice vote without a roll‑call tally. The chair then moved to adjourn the budget meeting.

The district plans to maintain the 12 percent reserve as a strategic defense against mid‑biennium revenue shifts while continuing investments in academic coaching, mental‑health counselors and proactive capital renewal. Staff said the district does not anticipate dipping into the ending fund balance for the coming year.

What’s next: the budget as approved will be forwarded per district procedures for final adoption steps; staff said they will continue quarterly monitoring and may present additional inserts or adjustments if needed.