Central Lee Community School District

Central Lee Community, Parents, and Students,

Each September, the Central Lee Community School District engages an independent firm to audit its financial records. Following the completion of this audit, the district submits several financial reports, certifying our records for the previous school year. We have recently finalized these steps and are ready to provide our community with a financial update.

Our district remains in a strong financial position. The main indicator of financial health is our unspent spending authority, which represents the amount of money the district is legally allowed to spend in a given year. It is important to note that unspent spending authority is not the same as cash on hand or incoming revenue. Rather, we tend to think of it as our “credit.” 

For many years, the state of Iowa has used unspent spending authority to gauge the financial health of school districts. As of the end of the 2024-25 fiscal year, our unspent authority stands at $5,086,410. To put this in perspective, in 2006, the district had an unspent authority of just $360,386. Over the years, Central Lee has demonstrated responsible financial management by steadily increasing this number.

In the 2024-25 school year, we elected to defer all of our management expenses to the general fund to re-establish strong financial health in the management fund. This directive was intended to ensure the stabilization of our district tax rate in this specific fund. The district continues to experience an increase in expenditures due to inflation and rising energy costs. Steady enrollment increases over the past several years have helped offset these costs, while also allowing us to invest in our staff. 

In 2024-25, we approved a 3.5% wage increase for all staff, followed by a 4.3% increase for 2025-26. We have already committed to a 3.25% increase for 2026-27. These adjustments are essential for retaining high-quality staff and remaining competitive when recruiting new professionals. We recognize that staff recruitment and retention will likely become more challenging in the coming years. However, with our continued enrollment growth, we are optimistic that we can offer another reasonable wage increase for our team. 

Additionally, revenue has consistently increased due to our enrollment growth. This past year, Central Lee received $6,292,069 in state aid, $3,962,594 in open enrollment payments from neighboring schools, and $3,340,776 in property tax payments. This was the first year that property tax revenue was the lowest among these three categories. Figure 2 below shows the recent revenue history for the district. 

We remain committed to investing in staffing and resources, provided that doing so does not compromise our long-term financial stability. While we are not able to fulfill every request, our priority has been to direct resources toward areas that best support the goals outlined in our strategic plan.

If you have any questions regarding the district’s finances, please do not hesitate to reach out. 

Sincerely,

Dr. Andy Crozier

Superintendent

Figure 1: Historical Financial Data

Figure 2: Breakdown of District Revenue for the General Fund (FY21)