The next ’26 -’27 full preliminary budget write up is Chathams, and just like every other budget we’re breaking down -it’s subject to change by the time it’s adopted. Every analysis is going to follow the same markers; the 24-25 ACFR (actuals) as a baseline, the ’25-26 revised and the ’26-’27 preliminary.
Chatham’s budget hops nearly $5M from the 2024-25 baseline to $91.3M in the ’25 revised then another ~$4M bump to $95.2M with this most recent budget; that’s a ~$8.7M jump over two years. Total spend comes to ~$100M.
Chatham Operating Budget
The operating budget rises from about $86.5M to $91.3M to $95.2M across the three comparison points.
Total appropriations come to about $99.7M.
The tax levy shoulders most of the burden and increased by ~$4.7M (almost 6%) in just one year and the local draw exceeds $84M with state aid taking a small bite at about $7.2M. At the same time, Chatham is is using less of its fund balance ($290K – a 79% decrease) and continues to draw from capital reserves ($3.5M).
Tax Levy and Revenue Mix
The levy continues to do most of the work, while state aid remains a much smaller piece of the picture.
Budgeted fund balance falls to about $290K while the district still draws $3.5M from capital reserves.
Regular instruction stays almost flat – $25M (2024-25) to $25.6M (2025-26 revised) to $25.7M (2026-27 preliminary) which represents only half a percentage point jump from ’25 to ’26. Special ed follows a similar pattern at ~$7.7M (2024-25) to ~$7.81M (2025-26 revised) to $7.78M (2026-27 preliminary); a .33% dip but there are some significant changes within category itself.
Instruction Spending
Regular instruction stays nearly flat, while special education remains fairly stable overall despite movement within subcategories.
Learning/Language Disability gets a significant bump, resource room declines a bit and preschool disabilities show part-time services declining while full-time services increase with the notes indicating that the changes are connected to staffing changes (additional para’s, headcount).
Out of District tuition drops by about $500k to ~$5M, a 9% drop based on the budget’s tuition worksheet projection.
Out-of-District Tuition
Out-of-district tuition drops by just over $500K year over year.
Student support and extraordinary services show one of the more significant increases, from $1.56M to $2.00M, (+28.66%) jump with notes indicating increased need for paras, expanded one-to-one contracted services and additional software.
Health services goes from $751K to $827K with an added position noted.
Student Support and Health Services
Student support services show one of the sharpest jumps, while health services also move up.
Notes point to more paraprofessionals, one-to-one contracted services, and software.
Budget note: added school health professional position.
Transportation jumps ~20.6% (+930k) – notes point to an increase in special education transportation needs and under-budgeting prior year.
Transportation
Transportation is one of the clearest pressure points in the Chatham budget.
Moving onto facilities, maintenance goes up 15%, custodial services ~5.4%, and plant operations ~6.4%. The budget notes these as adjustments to better align with actual projected costs.
Facilities and Plant Operations
Multiple facilities-related categories move up, with the budget notes saying the increases better align to projected costs.
Security costs drop nearly 10% to $649K (reclassification of costs into maintenance/custodial per notes – not an actual reduction).
Employee benefits stays as one of the biggest drivers, pretty much the story everywhere – increasing from $15.75M to ~19M, a 20.21% jump in a single year (rising health insurance costs premiums and PERS contributions as the primary culprits per notes).
Security
Security spending drops on paper, but the budget notes indicate this is tied to reclassification, not necessarily a true service reduction.
Capital spending drops from about $4.41M to $3.95M, a 10.44% reduction, even as construction and facilities projects continue.
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