The Cape Henlopen School District will likely see a leaner, more austere budget next year, after its Board of Education opted not to raise taxes for the upcoming year.
Board members on Thursday got a look at the district’s preliminary budget, and the district’s Finance Director, Oliver Gumbs, says the $220 million dollar proposal contains a lot of cuts.
“This budget contains some budget reductions, recommendations for that, and tightening our belt and being a little more frugal, knowing that our revenue is not keeping pace,” he told board members.
Those cuts include an across-the-board 5% reduction for all of the district’s schools. Administrative units will see even larger cuts.
“Many of the administrative operating units, there's a minimum of a 10% budget reduction,” Gumbs said. “In some areas, there's a 33% reduction in the budget.”
Gumbs noted that once again, the district is pulling on its reserves to balance the budget, and warned board members that the strategy was not sustainable.
“We are going to be using approximately $12.7 million to balance this budget,” he said. “And again, you can't continue to do that long term.”
A potential referendum to raise enough revenue to match the district’s rising needs could be a difficult proposition. In March 2024, the district asked voters for a property tax increase to fund operating costs and new construction. That referendum failed with 54% of voters opposing it. A scaled-back proposal two months later also failed, although by a slightly smaller margin. The district’s last successful referendum was in 2018.
The largest increase in the budget is one that the district can’t control - salaries for its staff. There are also increases in tuition money to send students with special needs to other schools which can serve them.
Superintendent Jennifer Nauman predicted more austerity ahead.
“As revenues coming in are less and expenses continue to go up, we may have to tighten our belts a little more,” she warned. “We chose not to raise taxes this year for our taxpayers, but at the same time we're going to have to do a lot of work and watch the revenue streams coming in.”
A vote on the budget is expected on August 20.
