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Board of Education approves balanced budget for 2025-2026 school year

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The Mehlville School District Board of Education unanimously approved the budget for the 2025-2026 school year (fiscal year 2026) at its June 26 meeting. 

“Our balanced budget shows a dedication to educating the students of our district while being fiscally responsible to our community,” said Dr. Jeff Haug, Superintendent of Schools. “We are incredibly grateful to the constituents of our district for their support.” 

The fiscal year 2026 budget can be viewed in its entirety here. 

The district’s budget consists of operating funds and non-operating funds. Operating funds are spent on the normal ongoing operations of a district, like  salaries and benefits, utilities, gasoline and classroom materials.  Non-operating funds represent mostly capital projects where money has been collected in previous years for spending in the current or future years.  

The district is projecting an operating net gain of zero and a non-operating loss of $11.2 million due to capital project spending of funds that were received in prior years. 

The district is estimating revenue of almost $173 million. Expenses amount to $184 million, and include the following highlights.

  • A continued commitment to providing competitive compensation. Total salaries and benefits have increased by $5.3 million in the fiscal year 2026 budget.
  • Critical infrastructure repairs, including more than $15 million allocated to replace aging HVAC equipment. This is part of a multi-year $37 million funding plan to replace HVAC without incurring debt, saving the district $12 million in interest expense from having to use a bond. 
  • The final roofing projects that are funded through Prop A, which will sunset following fiscal year 2026.
  • The completion of the final projects funded through Prop S.

Additionally, the budget forecasts a healthy cash reserve balance of 30.5%.

“Having sufficient cash avoids the need to borrow funds when cash is at its lowest in November, before the district starts to receive property tax payments,” said Marshall Crutcher, Chief Financial Officer. “Cash reserves give us flexibility to avoid immediate budget cuts if government funding changes suddenly or unexpectedly.”

The fiscal year 2026  budget, like all school district budgets, is based on several estimates and assumptions. For example, local and state tax revenue will not be finalized until the fiscal year has started. Additionally, there is not sufficient data at this time to estimate the revenue decrease from a residential property tax freeze.

While the community has supported wise investments in its schools, Mehlville School District is maintaining its reputation as a fiscally conservative district. The Mehlville School District has the 17th lowest tax rate of 22 St. Louis County school districts, one of the lowest tax rates in the county. The district also ranks last in the county in outstanding debt expense per student.