Dearest reader,
We have reached Step 5 in Port Huron Area Schools: the financial condition of the district.
And this one needs context.
Port Huron ended 2024-25 with a substantial General Fund balance:
$32,393,860
That represented 29.66% of expenditures.
The district was not broke.
It wasn't particularly close.
But now let's look forward.
For 2025-26, the district projects:
Deficit: $2,844,974
Ending fund balance: $29,548,886
Fund balance ratio: 24.28%
Then comes the 2026-27 preliminary budget:
Deficit: $5,908,980
Ending fund balance: $23,639,906
Fund balance ratio: 20.28%
Put those two budget years together and Port Huron is projecting the use of:
$8,753,954
of its General Fund balance.
That's a 27.02% reduction from where the district ended 2024-25.
Now, Lady B is not sounding the bankruptcy alarm.
Even after that projected drawdown, the district would still have approximately $23.64 million in its General Fund — about 20.28% of expenditures.
But direction matters.
Especially when we look underneath the totals.
From 2024-25 actual spending to the 2026-27 preliminary budget:
Basic Programs: +4.21%
Added Needs: +8.42%
Pupil Support: +11.88%
Instructional Staff Support: +4.46%
General Administration: +6.41%
School Administration: +6.29%
Business: +8.85%
Operations: +9.31%
Transportation: +10.15%
Central: +1.07%
Every one of those major categories is budgeted higher.
Meanwhile, revenue is projected to move slightly downward:
$110.47 million → $109.93 million
while expenditures rise:
$109.22 million → $116.59 million.
That's how you arrive at a projected $5.91 million draw on fund balance in 2026-27 alone.
There is good news in this ledger, too.
Port Huron's 2024-25 independent audit received an unmodified opinion.
The district reported no material weaknesses in internal controls and no violations of applicable laws and regulations.
That matters.
So this isn't a story about a district in immediate financial distress.
It's a story about a district entering this period with a strong reserve and budgeting to use a meaningful portion of it.
And after Steps 1 through 4, Lady B has one final question:
What is the long-term plan when expenditures are growing faster than revenue and nearly $8.8 million of reserves is budgeted to disappear in two years?
A healthy fund balance gives a district options.
How those options are used tells us about priorities.
With receipts and respect.
#LadyBudgetdown #PortHuron #PortHuronAreaSchools #PHASD #MichiganSchools #SchoolFinance #SchoolBudget #FundBalance #PublicEducation #EducationSpending #SchoolTransparency #PublicRecords #FollowTheMoney #WithReceiptsAndRespect