Lady Budgetdown: Troy School District's Finances - Stable Today, but Spending Down Tomorrow
Dearest Readers,
Lady Budgetdown has finished reviewing Troy School District's audited financial statements, federal audits, adopted budgets and budget amendments.
And the receipts tell a story that deserves more than either panic or praise.
Troy is not broke.
Its auditors issued clean opinions, reported no material weaknesses and identified no questioned federal costs. The district still holds millions in General Fund reserves and maintains a strong local tax base.
But a clean audit does not mean the budget is balanced.
And Troy's operating numbers are moving in a direction taxpayers should watch closely.
The General Fund trend
Troy ended the 2023–24 fiscal year with approximately:
$36.77 million in General Fund reserves
A reserve equal to roughly 19.2% of annual expenditures
One year later, the district recorded an audited General Fund deficit of approximately:
$3.06 million
The reserve declined to:
$33.71 million
Approximately 17.4% of expenditures
That is still a healthy reserve, but the district is now using part of it to cover annual operating costs.
For 2025–26, Troy's final amended budget projects:
Revenue: $202.15 million
Expenditures: $207.64 million
Projected deficit: $5.49 million
Projected ending reserve: $28.23 million
And the adopted 2026–27 budget projects yet another deficit:
Revenue: $191.06 million
Expenditures: $193.34 million
Projected deficit: $2.29 million
Projected ending reserve: approximately $25.94 million
Troy's own policy states that the Board will endeavor to maintain a General Fund balance of at least 15% of expenditures.
The current projections place the district below that target.
One deficit year can be managed.
Multiple consecutive deficit years become a trend.
Where is the General Fund money going?
Under Troy's final 2025–26 amended budget:
Basic instruction: $94.75 million
Added-needs and special education instruction: $35.03 million
Adult and continuing education: $791,262
Total direct instruction:
$130.57 million
Meanwhile, the three primary administrative categories total approximately:
General administration: $2.27 million
School administration: $10.49 million
Business services: $1.80 million
Combined administration:
$14.56 million
That distinction matters.
Lady Budgetdown will not label every counselor, custodian, bus driver, technology employee or support specialist an "administrator." Support services include many employees who work directly for students and school operations.
Facts should remain facts, even when the larger numbers are more dramatic.
The temporary money is disappearing
Federal General Fund revenue fell from approximately:
$8.22 million in 2023–24
To $3.98 million in 2024–25
That is a reduction of approximately:
$4.23 million
Or 51.5%
Much of the pandemic-era federal funding has now expired.
The district itself previously identified recurring or "structural" deficits beneath the temporary COVID and one-time state funding.
In other words, temporary money helped cover recurring expenses.
But temporary money eventually ends.
Recurring payroll, benefits, transportation, facilities and programs do not.
Enrollment also matters
Troy reported enrollment of approximately:
12,447 students in spring 2024
12,393 students in spring 2025
That is a decrease of 54 students in one year.
The decline is not catastrophic, but Michigan school funding largely follows students. Fewer students can mean less recurring operating revenue, even while many staffing and facility costs remain.
The district also acknowledged continued upward pressure on wages throughout its operations.
And what about the $555 million bond?
Yes, Troy voters approved a $555 million bond program.
No, that does not mean the district has $555 million available for teacher salaries, classroom operations or annual budget deficits.
Bond money is restricted for approved capital purposes such as:
Buildings and renovations
Technology
Equipment
School buses
Site improvements
Other voter-authorized capital projects
Those funds must be kept separate from ordinary General Fund operations.
The 2023 Capital Projects Fund spent tens of millions during 2024–25 as construction and capital projects moved forward. That spending should be monitored carefully, but it cannot simply be transferred into payroll.
The audit record
To be equally clear, Troy's auditors reported:
Clean, unmodified audit opinions
No identified material weaknesses
No reportable material noncompliance
No federal questioned costs
No major federal-program findings
Lady Budgetdown found no evidence in these reports of widespread fraud, missing money or an audit crisis.
What the records do show is something quieter—but still important:
Troy is operating from a position of financial strength while gradually using that strength to cover recurring deficits.
The district has enough reserves to manage this in the near term.
But reserves are a savings account, not a permanent revenue source.
The real questions
The question is not whether Troy has money.
It does.
The questions are:
Why are recurring expenditures continuing to exceed recurring revenue?
How many years can reserves be used before programs or staffing must change?
Which increases are temporary grant-funded programs, and which become permanent obligations?
What is the long-term plan to return the General Fund to structural balance?
And will the district remain above its own reserve target?
No manufactured outrage.
No claims that Troy is bankrupt.
No pretending that clean audits make recurring deficits disappear.
Just the numbers, laid plainly upon the table.
Because a financially strong district should address an operating imbalance before the reserve is depleted—not after.
The books are open. The receipts are public. And Lady Budgetdown shall continue reading them.
— Lady Budgetdown
Society Spending Exposed
Sources: Troy School District 2024 and 2025 Annual Comprehensive Financial Reports; federal single audits; 2025–26 final budget amendment; and 2026–27 adopted budget. The district's 2025 audit identifies enrollment, state funding and labor-market pressures as key financial factors. The 2025–26 final amendment and 2026–27 adopted resolution provide the current expenditure, millage and fund projections used above. The federal audits issued unmodified opinions on the supplementary federal-award schedules.