6 | ACTON-BOXBOROUGH REGIONAL SCHOOL DISTRICT | ANNUAL REPORT 2024–2025
District Finances at a Glance
FY25 Financial Highlights • Chapter 70 (Minimum) Education Aid increased by $70 per pupil (versus $30 pp budgeted); represents $367K revenue variance. • Regional Transportation final numbers are estimated $42,933 over anticipated. • Interest rates on invested funds remained higher than expected and our projected investment income is over $750K for FY25. • Charter School reimbursement final numbers were $8,644 under anticipated. • Details of yearend budget-to-actual results will be presented in the pre- liminary FY2025 financial report to School Committee (August, 2025). FY26 Budget • Both towns have voted approval of the District’s FY2026 operating and capital budget ($117M), an increase of 2.32% over FY2025. • The District was able to amend and
8% 7% 6% 5% 4% 3% 2% 1% 0% Annual Operating Budget Growth (%) FY25, note operational override in Acton
As this chart shows, the FY2026 budget is voted with a lower than 3% overall increase. This is partly from a completion of debt payments for the Junior High and High School construction debt. The other key factor is an increase in state revenue projections. The Operating Budget represents the appropriated budget for all years except FY2021, where the incremental impact of the first year of new twin school debt service has been excluded.
3.5% 2.5% 2.7% 2.9% 3.2% 3.2% 7.7% 2.3%
AVG. FY20 FY21* FY22 FY23 FY24 FY25
FY26
■ Average Budget Increase (3.5%)
■ Amount Below 3.0% Increase
■ Operating Budget Increase
Budget/Assessment Trends
16%
Due to its significantly greater relative enrollment, Acton’s assessments track closely with the District’s annual budget increases. Prior to FY22, Boxborough benefitted from the “cost shift” during the first seven years of full regionalization. Since FY2022, and projected to continue for years beyond FY2026, Boxborough’s assessment % increase exceeds the annual operating budget. Assessments are calculated based on the most recent three-year average of total enrollment for both towns.
14%
12%
Acton Assessment Increase
10%
Boxborough Assessment Increase
8%
increase the FY2026 budget while reducing the assessments to each member town by using additional stateaid.
6%
4%
Annual Budget (Appropriation) Increase
• Boxborough’s FY26 assessment increase (5.25%) is greater than Acton’s (0.97%), due to Boxborough’s relative proportion of K-12 enrollment.
2%
0%
AVG.
FY20
FY21*
FY20
FY21
FY22
FY25
FY26
Made with FlippingBook Digital Publishing Software