Dear Sac City Families,

At last night’s Board of Education meeting, Board members unanimously approved a proposed $690 million budget for the 2022-2023 school year.  This budget allows Sac City Unified to address important student needs with the use of one-time funding while keeping the District on its path toward long-term solvency.  The District budget is still subject to revision for a 45-day window after the State gives final approval to its budget. 

Based on projections shared with the Board, the District’s General Fund is expected to have $96.7 million in assigned and unassigned reserves.  Deposits into the State’s “rainy day fund account” reached levels that triggered a maximum allowable reserve for school districts (also known as a 10% cap) in the 2022-23 year.  For Sac City Unified, the maximum allowable reserve is $64.8 million, which leaves $31.9 million in reserves above the cap.

 Per Board Policy, one-time funds should only be spent on one-time expenditures.  Therefore, the Board took action to invest $19.4 million to meet its 3% additional reserve for economic uncertainty and approved approximately $32 million for one-time expenditures on initiatives to support the 11 goals outlined in the District’s Local Control Accountability Plan (LCAP).  The specific initiatives that will be funded are still subject to change within the 45-day budget revision period. 

The 2022-2023 budget, while not yet finalized, has been significantly boosted by a combination of one-time funds, increased cost of living adjustments, and changes to enrollment funding calculations.  While the District welcomes this added revenue and looks forward to using it to provide more equitable learning opportunities for students and families, it remains an unreliable and short-term source of funding. 

Sac City Unified cannot lose sight of the need to fundamentally change our budgeting process and eliminate our structural deficit.  While the 2022-2023 fiscal year projects an unrestricted surplus of $54.3 million, the District projects unrestricted deficit spending will persist in the coming fiscal years when the current one-time funding sources are depleted.

This is especially important because employee salaries and benefits comprise 90% of the District’s unrestricted funds.  That leaves the remaining 10% available to address LCAP goals in ways that benefit students.

We will continue to keep you updated on the budget process as the 45-day revision draws closer.