Budget & Monthly Reports
Your Schools, Your Dollars: Tracking Your Investment in Lebanon City School District's Students
The District’s budget is more than numbers on a page—it is a year-round process that plans for needs, responds to change, and directs resources to classrooms and student opportunities. This page breaks down how our District plans, monitors, and adjusts its budget, and how the community plays a role along the way.
Budget Breakdown: The Mechanics of the District's Budget
Understanding the mechanics of the District’s budget starts with one key idea: it is a process, not an event. Planning begins months before a new fiscal year and continues as funding estimates, enrollment trends, and student needs become clearer. While the District adopts an annual budget, that plan is monitored and refined throughout the year to ensure resources remain aligned with classrooms, programs, and responsible financial stewardship.
MYTH: The budget is created once a year and is "set in stone" once the school year starts.
REALITY: The budget is a "living document." While we set an annual plan, we provide Finanacial Forecasts (in February and August) that allow us to adjust our expectations as state funding, local values, and costs shift.
Planning The Budget
Budget planning begins well before a new fiscal year and is guided by both legal requirements and thoughtful review of district needs. One of the first steps in this process is the development of the TAX BUDGET, which is required by Ohio law and is shared publicly during the District’s Organizational Board meeting. This public presentation gives community members an opportunity to learn about the plan, ask questions, and provide input as early planning begins.
As a planning document, the Tax Budget outlines estimated revenues and expenses and establishes limits for property tax collection, but it is not a final spending plan. Instead, it provides a framework for forecasting and responsible decision-making.
Tax Budget Approved by the Board of Education
Presentation: Public Hearing of the Tax Budget
During the planning phase of the budget cycle, the District also engages in early planning conversations focused on staffing and programs.
Enrollment trends, staffing needs, and instructional priorities are reviewed with staff, building administrators, and Board members to understand how student needs may change in the year ahead.
These discussions help identify potential areas of growth or adjustment and ensures planning is thoughtful, transparent, and informed by community input.
MYTH: The public has no opportunity to provide input for the District's budget. REALITY: Community input is built into the budget process through public Board meetings and opportunities to ask questions and share priorities with district leadership throughout the year.
