Financials
The LBUSD budget at a glance, followed by each area of financial attention — the health-benefits over-cap payments, the pool project, and other cost pressures. Every figure is drawn from one of 12 financial-topic events and the citations attached to them; expand any section to drill into the detail. Where a figure is an estimate by an advocacy source rather than an audited number, that's noted.
Budget at a glance
- Property tax & LCFF $83.37M · 88.7% 4% assumed growth; LBUSD is a basic-aid (community-funded) district
- State, local & federal revenue $10.63M · 11.3% Remainder of projected General Fund revenue
Figures presented at the May 12, 2026 budget study session by CBO Manoj Roychowdhury. Meeting summary →
Multi-year budget detail
Ending General Fund balance trajectory
Actuals through 2024-25, projected thereafter. The decline is driven largely by General Fund transfers for the high school pool (~$11M in 2025-26, another ~$4M planned in 2026-27) plus the $1.04M absorbed for the healthcare overpayment.
- End of 2024-25 actual$20.7M (23%)
- End of 2025-26 projected$8.76M (9.37%)
- End of 2026-27 projected$7.79M (8.64%)
Board reserve policy is 5%; the State minimum is 3%. Projected reserves remain above both through 2026-27.
Formal budget actions, 2025-26 cycle
The three statutorily-required board-approved budget actions across the 2025-26 fiscal cycle, each linking to its meeting summary and event entry.
- approved 5-0
- Revenues $89M (~$667K above projection)
- Expenditures $87.5M (~$876K below projection)
- Ending GF balance $25M (up from $23.5M)
- 13-year average annual surplus ~$3.9M
- Total district fund balance $58.7M
- approved 5-0 with positive certification
- Property taxes projected at $79.5M (up ~$623K)
- State revenue up $1.1M; local revenue up $394K
- Projected ending GF balance $12.8M
- Reserve for economic uncertainties $1.2M
- approved 5-0 with positive certification
- Revenues $93.3M (+$1.2M, largely property-tax recalculation at 5.8% growth)
- Expenditures $92.3M
- Reserve maintained at 5% (~$5.28M)
- $11M GF→Fund 40 interfund transfer approved 5-0 for pool
- $850K healthcare absorption confirmed in current-year budget
- $90K first AB 218 payment made (another ~$90K next year)
- Property/liability insurance premiums up 8-10%
Health-benefits over-cap payments
For four fiscal years the district paid more toward employee health-and-welfare benefits than the collective bargaining agreements capped. A September 2025 forensic audit by Michael Bishop & Associates quantified it. Two figures from that audit circulate in public discussion — $1.77M and $1.04M — and both are correct; they answer different questions.
$0.11M + $0.27M + $0.55M + $0.84M = $1.77M. The absolute magnitude of CBA non-compliance across the four years the district paid above-cap.
$1.77M − $0.15M (FY 2020-21 under-paid) − $0.23M (FY 2021-22 under-paid) − $0.35M (unappropriated LaBUFA MOU credit) = $1.04M. This is the actionable "Cumulative Excess Contribution" the audit brings forward to the board (Slide 12).
Both figures come from the same primary source — Slides 7 and 12 of the LBUSD Business Services board presentation of November 13, 2025. Slide 12 writes the rounded form $1.01M; Slide 7 derives $1.04M. The ~$30K difference is a rounding inconsistency in the source document. The four-option remediation framework is built around the net figure, not the gross. Source: H&W Benefits Overpayment and Corrective Action (Board Presentation) .
Year-by-year breakdown
Annual breakdown presented to the board on Nov 13, 2025 by CBO Roychowdhury. The two earliest years showed district under-payment relative to the CBA; the four most recent showed over-payment. Source: /meetings/2025-11-13-regular .
- 2020-21 under-paid~$150K
- 2021-22 under-paid~$230Kseparately, $350K MOU added to district contribution
- 2022-23 over-paid~$110K
- 2023-24 over-paid~$270K
- 2024-25 over-paid~$550Kconfirmed
- 2025-26 over-paid~$840Kprojected
Known dollar amounts by fiscal year
Bars show known dollar amounts. Where the public record doesn't split cumulative figures by year, the bar is labeled accordingly rather than guessed.
- 2021-22~$350KAuthorized via signed MOUs (LaBUFA + CSEA Ch. 131) Event →
- 2022-23 to 2024-25~$920K combinedCumulative portion of $1.77M audit total; per-year breakdown not in public record Event →
- 2024-25 (interim figure)$550KGlass's July 2025 disclosure; subsumed into Bishop audit cumulative total Event →
- 2025-26$850KAudit current-year figure ($840K); board absorbed $850K from General Fund Event →
How the board responded
On December 16, 2025 the board voted 5-0 to absorb the $850K current-year shortfall from the General Fund, without seeking repayment from staff. View the event →
By absorbing the shortfall, the district avoided passing the cost back to employees through higher premium contributions. George Weiss (Substack, May 9, 2026) estimated the alternative would have raised premiums by approximately $50 to $500 per month per employee, depending on health plan.
This range is an advocate-source estimate, not an audited or district-published figure.
Pool modernization
The LBHS pool modernization is the single biggest current capital draw on the General Fund. Committed contracts total roughly $20.99M against about $20.4M in assigned funding; the project total has been quoted between $21.79M and $25M depending on contingency and soft-cost assumptions. Funding it is the main reason the reserve trajectory above declines so sharply.
Funding stack & committed contracts
Assigned funding (~$20.4M)
- Fund 40 cash on hand$5.4M
- General Fund transfer, 2025-26approved 5-0 at Mar 12, 2026 meeting$11M
- General Fund transfer, 2026-27 planned$4M
Committed contracts (~$20.99M)
- Hard costs (LBHS Pool Modernization)approved 5-0 Jan 8, 2026$18,813,222
- Soft / construction servicesapproved Jan 8, 2026$2,176,305
Implied funding gap of ~$590K between commitments and assigned sources; the CBO has cited a wider $1.4M-$4.6M gap depending on property-tax revenue and Prop 2 state match assumptions. Sources: the Jan 8, 2026 and Mar 12, 2026 board meetings.
Other cost pressures (FY 2026-27)
Beyond the pool and the benefits absorption, the CBO flagged several rising costs at the May 12, 2026 budget study session — special education, legal spend, settlements, and contracts — each putting pressure on the General Fund.
Cost pressures called out at the study session
- Special education General Fund contribution. $7.17M (2022-23) → $10.09M (2025-26) → $10.54M projected (2026-27). SpEd revenue projected at $2.91M against $13.45M in expenditure.
- Legal costs. ~$250K (2022-23) → $1M+ projected (2025-26), carried at $1M for 2026-27. Hills attributed part of the increase to AB 218 claims and the Aliso property litigation; Malczewski cited board attorney spend and "payments for investigations of staff."
- Parent special-education settlements. $550K (2022-23) → $900K (2025-26).
- Fund 17 (Special Reserve for Non-Capital Outlay). Currently $23.9M; a 2005 board resolution set an aspirational target tied to the basic-aid differential between property tax and LCFF entitlement, which now stands at approximately $49M. No contributions since 2019-20.
- RRMA contribution proposed reduction. CBO proposed a one-year temporary suspension reducing the Routine Restricted Maintenance Account contribution from 4% to 3% (~$900K reduction), deferring district-office parking-lot resurfacing and painting. Requires a board action to suspend the policy.
- SRO contract. The City of Laguna Beach's proposal for school resource officers came in "significantly higher" — "like two or three times" the 2025-26 cost — and remains under negotiation.
Figures as presented by CBO Roychowdhury; they trace to the transcript-derived summary at /meetings/2026-05-12-study and the underlying recording. LCAP / budget public hearing was scheduled for May 14, 2026; board adoption for June 8, 2026; statutory deadline June 30, 2026.
Major dollar events
Individual transactions and disclosures that carry a specific dollar figure. Each links to its timeline event and citations.
Methodology & gaps
- Every figure on this page is sourced to an event on the timeline; click any number to read the event and its citations.
- The Bishop & Associates forensic audit (Sept 2025) is referenced by multiple sources but the full report is not currently mirrored as a public PDF; figures reproduced here trace to Sensible Laguna and Laguna Beach Independent coverage of the audit.
- The Team CIVX bond consulting agreement dollar amount has not been publicly disclosed at the time of this writing.
- The per-employee $50-$500 range is an estimate attributed to George Weiss, not an audited or board-published figure.
- The 2021-22 $350K bar reflects the amount explicitly authorized via signed MOUs and is presented as separate from the Bishop audit's $1.77M four-year total.
- The Budget at a glance and Other cost pressures figures come from the May 12, 2026 budget study session as presented by CBO Roychowdhury; all figures trace to the transcript-derived meeting summary and the underlying video recording. No multi-year budget PDF reconciliation has been performed against those figures yet.