The extra money granted during the COVID-19 pandemic is spent, the two-year bump in state funding brought on by the adoption of the fair school funding formula is in the bank and the $40 million jump in property valuation in Brookfield that occurred last year is not likely to happen again soon.

In other words, it’s time to find the new normal for Brookfield Local School District’s finances.

In presenting his semi-annual five-year forecast, Treasurer Jordan Weber said revenue is expected to be flat during that time, around $13.5 million a year. “We’re not gonna see the increase we saw the last two years,” he told the school board Nov. 20, referring to the extra $1.5 million in funding the state granted under the fair school funding formula, and the property valuation increase that brought unexpected property tax revenues.

But, on the expense side, he sees it jumping from $12.6 million this year to $15.3 million in 2029, with salaries and benefits making up a majority of that jump. Although the State Teachers Retirement System recently lowered retirement eligibility to 33 years of service from 34, with early retirement starting at 28 years of service, Weber does not expect it will have much impact on Brookfield. There are few teachers with enough service time to take advantage of that benefit, he said.

“It’s gonna get a little bit worse before it gets better,” he said of salaries and benefits.

Plus, with fewer people going into teaching, it will be harder to replace retiring teachers with new, lower-paid teachers, once Brookfield teachers do retire, he said.

The forecast shows expenses exceeding revenues starting in 2027, although the district has enough money in the bank to offset those losses.

Politics plays a role in the school funding, but also in requirements foisted on schools, and it’s hard to forecast how the political climate will affect Brookfield in the coming years, Weber said. He noted that this year’s state requirement to implement the Science of Reading for the teaching of reading in grades kindergarten through five cost the district $150,000 for the purchase of new curriculum.

“We’re hopeful that the legislature comes through and increases the percentage of the fair school funding formula that they enact,” he said. “We’re hopeful that property values keep going up. Outside of that, we’re hopeful we can find the grants and individuals to help us do the things that are a little bit outside the scope of the day-to-day.”

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