Budgets & Audits

[Lady Budgetdown]

Dearest reader,

Step 5 of the Birch Run Area Schools ledger takes us to the budget and the audit.

And this page of the ledger is rather uneventful.

The district's 2024–25 audit received a clean opinion, and its General Fund essentially broke even:

Revenue: $24.78 million
Expenditures: $24.78 million
Operating difference: −$5,331

After transfers, the General Fund actually increased by $42,424, ending the year with a fund balance of approximately $8.32 million. 68937.pdf

For 2026–27, Birch Run is budgeting $25.78 million in revenue against $25.48 million in expenditures — a roughly $303,000 surplus. The district begins the year with approximately $8.56 million in General Fund balance, although $4 million has been assigned to capital projects. 72830.pdf

So, no dramatic proclamation from Lady Budgetdown today.

Birch Run does not appear to be a district in financial distress.

That doesn't erase the questions raised in the earlier steps — particularly how staffing and certain spending categories grew while enrollment remained essentially flat.

It simply gives those questions some important context.

Sometimes the ledger raises eyebrows.

Sometimes it simply says, the books appear stable.

Both belong in the ledger.

With receipts and respect.

#LadyBudgetdown #BirchRunAreaSchools #BirchRun #SaginawCounty #SchoolFinance #Transparency #Accountability #TheLedger