TestFiscal
Fiscal Services
Budget & Financial Transparency
Public money should be legible to the public. Here is where the district stands in 2026-27, what changed in August, and every budget and audit document behind those numbers.
These are the district's current figures, from the AUSD 45-Day Budget Revision, presented to the Board of Education on 13 August 2026. Amounts are shown as published, in whole dollars.
2026-27 General Fund
The General Fund pays for day-to-day operations — staff, classrooms, utilities, and services. These are the revised figures for the current year.
How much of the fund balance is actually available?
This is the question behind almost every misunderstanding about school budgets. A district can hold a large balance and still have very little it can freely spend.
Restricted and unrestricted share of the $94.1M ending fund balance
General Fund, 2026-27 revised.
- Restricted — $55.6M (59.1%)
- Unrestricted — $38.5M (40.9%)
What am I looking at? $55,621,466 of the balance is restricted — it arrived for a named purpose such as special education, child nutrition, or a specific grant, and the law requires it to be spent on that purpose. Only the $38,459,037 unrestricted portion is money the Board has discretion over, and most of that is already committed or assigned.
View the data as a table
| Portion | Amount | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Restricted | $55,621,466 | 59.1% |
| Unrestricted | $38,459,037 | 40.9% |
| Total | $94,080,503 | 100.0% |
What the fund balance is made of
Components of the ending fund balance
General Fund, 2026-27 revised. Each component has a different degree of flexibility — restricted least, assigned most.
Reading the ladder. Restricted is set by law. Committed requires a formal Board vote to create or release. Assigned is management's stated intent and can be changed without a vote. Nonspendable is cash tied up in revolving funds and stores. Only the reserve and the assigned amounts are readily available, and the reserve exists precisely so it is not spent in a normal year.
View the data as a table
| Component | Amount | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Restricted | $55,621,466 | 59.1% |
| Assigned | $17,539,514 | 18.6% |
| Reserve for Economic Uncertainties | $10,674,523 | 11.3% |
| Committed | $10,200,000 | 10.8% |
| Nonspendable | $45,000 | 0.0% |
| Total | $94,080,503 | 100.0% |
The reserve
State law requires districts to hold a minimum reserve. Alvord's is set at exactly that minimum — but that figure on its own tells only part of the story.
Reserve against the state-required minimum
As a percentage of General Fund spending plus other uses ($355,817,433), 2026-27 revised.
Why two bars? The Reserve for Economic Uncertainties is budgeted at 3% — precisely the state minimum for a district this size, $10,674,523. Shown alone that looks like the district is running at the legal floor. But the total unrestricted ending balance is $38,459,037, about 10.8% of spending, because the Board also holds committed and assigned amounts outside the formal reserve. Both numbers are true, and either one alone would mislead.
View the data as a table
| Measure | Percent of spending | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Reserve for Economic Uncertainties (REU) | 3.0% | $10,674,523 |
| State-required minimum | 3.0% | $10,674,523 |
| Total unrestricted ending balance | 10.8% | $38,459,037 |
The next three years
Districts must project three years ahead, not one. A budget that balances this year but fails the year after is not a balanced budget, and the county reviews these projections.
Revenue and spending, 2026-27 to 2028-29
Combined General Fund, revised multiyear projection. Both lines are dollars on one shared scale.
- Revenue
- Expenditures
What am I looking at? In 2027-28 spending is projected to exceed revenue by $5,506,194. That is deficit spending — drawing on the fund balance to cover the gap. One year of it can be a deliberate choice, particularly when one-time money is being spent on one-time costs. Several years in a row is what prompts county intervention, which is why the third year matters as much as the first.
View the data as a table
| Fiscal year | Revenue | Spending | Difference | Ending fund balance |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-27 | $359,328,662 | $352,851,060 | $6,477,602 | $94,080,503 |
| 2027-28 | $346,596,656 | $352,102,850 | ($5,506,194) | $85,607,936 |
| 2028-29 | $349,464,010 | $342,906,020 | $6,557,990 | $89,199,554 |
What the 45-Day Revision changed
California districts adopt a budget in June, before the state budget is final. Within 45 days of the Governor signing it, the district must revise its own budget to match. This is that revision.
| Measure | Adopted | Revised | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total revenue | $342,110,054 | $359,328,662 | +$17,218,608 |
| Total expenditures | $348,131,244 | $352,851,060 | +$4,719,816 |
| Net increase / (decrease) | ($8,987,563) | $3,511,229 | +$12,498,792 |
| Ending fund balance | $81,581,711 | $94,080,503 | +$12,498,792 |
Why it changed
+$3,025,173
Special education funding increase
The state increased ongoing special education funding by 43%. For Alvord this reduced the unrestricted General Fund contribution to special education by $3,025,173 — money that stays available for general operations instead of backfilling special education.
Recorded in: Other Local Revenue (special education funding reaches the district through the SELPA, which is why it is recorded as local rather than state revenue)
+$14,193,435
One-time discretionary block grant
The state provided a one-time discretionary block grant of $930 per unit of Average Daily Attendance (ADA). Because it is one-time money, it is sound to use it for one-time costs rather than ongoing commitments the district would have to fund again next year.
Recorded in: Other State Revenue
Board commitments
Each year the Board formally commits funds it wants set aside for specific purposes. Committing funds is a public Board action, which is what distinguishes it from money simply left unspent.
General Fund
| Purpose | Amount |
|---|---|
| Ongoing STEAM costs | $1,200,000 |
| Special projects | $5,000,000 |
| Declining enrollment reserve | $4,000,000 |
| Total | $10,200,000 |
Fund 17 — Special Reserve for Non-Capital Outlay
| Purpose | Amount |
|---|---|
| Community Resource Hub | $1,500,000 |
| STEAM Academy | $2,000,000 |
| Modernizing irrigation infrastructure | $2,000,000 |
| Total | $5,500,000 |
Worth noticing. The General Fund commitments total $10,200,000, which is exactly the Committed component of the ending fund balance shown above. The two figures are the same money, viewed once as a Board decision and once as an accounting category.
Spending by category
Not yet charted here. The breakdown of spending by object — salaries, benefits, books and supplies, services — lives in the Adopted Budget SACS documents rather than in the 45-Day Revision. Rather than estimate it, this section links to the source.
Find it in the document archive below, under 2026-27 → Adopted Budget. Or call Fiscal Services on (951) 509-5080 and we will walk you through it.
The budget year
The district reports on its finances on a fixed schedule, several times a year. This is where each of those documents comes from.
- JunePublic hearingThe proposed budget is published and the public may comment.
- Late JuneBudget adoptionThe Board adopts the budget before the fiscal year starts July 1.
- Where we are now SeptemberUnaudited actualsWhat the district actually spent in the year just ended.
- DecemberFirst interimFirst formal check-in, using data through October 31.
- MarchSecond interimSecond check-in, using data through January 31.
- WinterIndependent auditAn outside audit firm reports to the Board and the county.
New to any of these terms? Understanding District Finances explains them in plain language.
Document archive
7 fiscal years, 82 documents. Documents marked Board presentation are the readable version; SACS forms are the raw statutory filings.
2025-26 8 documents
| Document | Type | Format |
|---|---|---|
| Public Hearing Presentation PDF (opens in a new tab) | Public Hearing | Board presentation |
| Public Hearing SACS Documents PDF (opens in a new tab) | Public Hearing | SACS forms |
| Adopted SACS Budget PDF (opens in a new tab) | Adopted Budget | SACS forms |
| Education Protection Account PDF (opens in a new tab) | Education Protection Account | Report |
| First Interim Presentation to the Board of Education PDF (opens in a new tab) | First Interim | Board presentation |
| First Interim SACS Documents PDF (opens in a new tab) | First Interim | SACS forms |
| Second Interim Presentation to the Board of Education PDF (opens in a new tab) | Second Interim | Board presentation |
| Second Interim SACS Documents PDF (opens in a new tab) | Second Interim | SACS forms |
2024-25 11 documents
2023-24 11 documents
2022-23 17 documents
2021-22 16 documents
2020-21 12 documents
2019-20 7 documents
| Document | Type | Format |
|---|---|---|
| Adopted Budget PDF (opens in a new tab) | Adopted Budget | Report |
| First Interim Presentation to the Board of Education PDF (opens in a new tab) | First Interim | Board presentation |
| First Interim SACS Documents PDF (opens in a new tab) | First Interim | SACS forms |
| Second Interim Presentation to the Board of Education PDF (opens in a new tab) | Second Interim | Board presentation |
| Second Interim SACS Documents PDF (opens in a new tab) | Second Interim | SACS forms |
| Unaudited Actuals SACS Documents PDF (opens in a new tab) | Unaudited Actuals | SACS forms |
| Final Audit Report PDF (opens in a new tab) | Audit Report | Report |
Cannot find what you need? Call Fiscal Services on (951) 509-5080. District financial records are public, and we would rather help you find the right document than have you work from the wrong one.