Pamford Lambert, the district business presenter, told the Board of Education on Nov. 10 that Goshen faces budgetary strain over the next five years and outlined levy-cap mechanics and the district’s exclusions.

Lambert said the district began 2025–26 with a $4,800,000 budget gap, made $1,800,000 in cuts and appropriated $3,750,000 from fund balance to balance the current year. "In the current year, 2526, we started with budget gap of $4,800,000, and we did close that gap. We made cuts of $1,800,000, and then we appropriated fund balance in the amount of $3,750,000," a presenter said.

She reviewed the distinction between the tax-levy cap and the actual levy adopted by the board, explained allowable exclusions such as net debt service and retirement contribution increases, and presented a simplified five-year projection showing potential negative exclusions in later years that would constrain levy increases. The presentation noted that continued minimal levy increases could require using reserves and capital funds to balance operations, reducing capacity for borrowing or capital projects.

Lambert signaled assumptions in the model — modest state-aid increases, projected special-education cost inflation, and conservative revenue-growth factors — and cautioned that retirements, attrition or contract settlements could materially alter the projections. She said the district has historically stayed within or below the cap but emphasized that projected deficits would require board-level prioritization, further program and personnel review, and careful use of fund balance and capital reserves.

Board members asked procedural and timing questions; administration said further analysis will inform upcoming budget months and any discussion of a capital project would be timed to leverage exclusions in years when levy capacity tightens.

No budget vote or formal levy action was taken at this meeting.