🎩 Lady Budgetdown's Society Papers
 
Dearest Readers,

At the request of a follower, Lady Budgetdown spent the afternoon reviewing several years of L'Anse Creuse Public Schools' budgets, audits, and financial reports.

And, as always... the receipts tell an interesting story.

📖 First, the good news.

The district's audits are clean. I found no evidence in the financial statements that bond proceeds were used to pay for ordinary operating expenses. Bond dollars appear to be accounted for separately through the Capital Projects Fund, exactly as they should be.

One budget even explains that tennis courts and school buses were intentionally excluded from the General Fund because they were expected to be funded through the voter-approved bond program.

So let's give credit where it's due.

💰 Now, let's talk about the operating budget.

The district built a healthy General Fund balance over several years, reaching nearly $19 million in 2024.

However...

The district has now:

• Recorded one actual operating deficit.
• Budgeted another deficit.
• Projected a third consecutive deficit.

That's more than $8 million in reserves expected to be used over three years if current projections hold.

📉 At the same time...

• Enrollment has declined approximately 15.6% since 2015.
• Operating spending per student has increased by roughly 47% since 2020.
• Staffing increased significantly between 2023 and 2024, even as enrollment continued to decline.

None of those numbers automatically indicate something is wrong.

But they do raise questions worth asking.

One question Lady Budgetdown couldn't answer from the documents:

❓Why does the amended 2025-26 budget project an ending fund balance of about $12.5 million, while the 2026-27 budget begins with approximately $15.1 million?

There may be a perfectly reasonable explanation—but it wasn't explained in the financial documents I reviewed.

Budgets aren't just about today's balance sheet.

They're about the direction a district is heading.

The receipts suggest L'Anse Creuse is not in financial crisis, but it is entering a period where reserves are being used, enrollment is declining, and future financial decisions will matter more than ever.

Lady Budgetdown doesn't decide what the story means.

She simply follows the receipts... and lets the numbers speak for themselves.

🎩 Until next time... stay curious, ask questions, and always follow the receipts.