In 22 consecutive fiscal years, Jericho UFSD has never once produced an accurate budget for either revenue or expenditures. The district generated $247.3 million in manufactured surplus—$11.2 million per year on average—representing systematic over taxation of residents. Administration cannot claim both fiscal expertise worthy of premium compensation and an inability to budget accurately for two decades.

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DEFINITIONS

Original Budget
The total General Fund budget adopted by voters at the annual budget vote, including all expenditures and inter fund transfers (Total Expenditures and Other Uses).
Final Budget
The Original Budget plus post-adoption adjustments: prior year encumbrances carried forward, appropriated fund balance (surplus) designated by the Board, appropriated reserves (retirement, employee benefits, capital), and voter-approved capital reserve expenditures.

Post-Adoption Adjustments
The difference between Final Budget and Original Budget. These are NOT new taxes — they represent accumulated surplus, reserves, and prior-year commitments added to the budget after adoption. Large adjustments (e.g., FY2016-2018) often include voter-approved capital reserve spending.

Revenue Over Budget
The amount by which Actual Revenues exceeded the Final Budget Revenue estimate (Actual Revenue minus Final Budget Revenue).

Expenditures Under Budget
The unencumbered balance: Final Budget minus Actual Expenditures minus Year-End Encumbrances. This is the amount budgeted but neither spent nor committed.
Manufactured Surplus
Revenue Over Budget plus Expenditures Under Budget. Represents the total annual gap between what was budgeted and what was actually needed — money collected from taxpayers beyond actual district needs.

Each year, the district appropriates a portion of accumulated surplus into the next year's budget. This is NOT a refund or tax reduction — no money goes back to taxpayers.

The surplus is recycled into an ever-growing budget. As the table shows, the adopted budget nearly doubled over this period — from $70.5M to $140.7M — while surplus continued to accumulate every single year.

The cycle works like this: the district over-collects taxes → surplus accumulates → a fraction is fed back into the next (larger) budget → the district over-collects again. The surplus is not reduced — it compounds. Taxpayers funded $247.3 million more than was actually spent.

If the district had budgeted accurately, this surplus would never have existed — and there would have been no need to "put it back."