Chart courtesy of Vestavia Hills City Schools
This chart shows the Vestavia Hills school system's revenues and expenditures over the past 10 years and projected revenues and expenditures for 2026 and 2027.
The Vestavia Hills Board of Education on Monday approved a $127 million budget for fiscal 2027, slightly less than the $128 million budget approved for 2026.
The school district plans to spend $110 million from its general fund, $10.3 million from its special revenue funds, $4.4 million on capital projects and $2.3 million from its school-based funds, which include money raised by athletic and academic support organizations.
About 79% of school system expenditures go toward salaries and benefits, which shows that Vestavia Hills City Schools puts a priority on its people, Superintendent Todd Freeman said.
The school system has 953 employees, with 596 of them funded by the state, 159 funded by local revenues and 51 funded by federal dollars, according to the school system’s online budget presentation.
The Vestavia Hills school system utilizes $11.8 million of local revenues to pay for 127 more teachers than the state funds, which is a testament to the commitment that the community has to public education, he said.
The state Legislature this year mandated that public school system employees receive a 2% cost-of-living raise for fiscal 2027. Also, employee health insurance costs and retirement system contributions paid by the school system increased 16.6% for 2027, which cost the Vestavia Hills school district $919,000 out of local funds, Chief Financial Officer Courtney Brown said.
Total general fund salaries and benefits have increased from $60.5 million in 2018 to $89 million in 2027 — an overall increase of 47%. The locally funded amounts for salaries and benefits increased from $21 million in 2018 to $31.4 million in 2027 — an overall increase of 50%.
Looking at expenditures by function, about 77% of its general fund expenditures — $86.9 million — go toward instruction and instructional support services, while $12.9 million will be spent on operations and maintenance, $5 million will go toward debt service, $3.8 million will go toward general and administrative services, $893,000 is budgeted for transportation, $800,000 goes to child nutrition and $758,000 goes to preschool operations.
The school system’s revenues are expected to be $126 million in 2027, including $70 million in local revenues, $52 million in state revenues, $2.6 million in federal revenues and $1.6 million in other revenues.
Property taxes are the largest source of revenue, accounting for 52% of all general fund revenues for 2027 and 84% of all local revenues. The 10-year average growth of local property taxes for Vestavia Hills City Schools has been about 4%, and the expected growth rate for 2027 is 4.3%, Brown said. In particular, the city and school district should see increases in revenue from The Bray at Liberty Park as growth there continues, she said.
The school district also expects to get $1.4 million from the Jefferson County 1-cent sales tax designated for education, $500,000 from city sales taxes, $280,000 extra from the Vestavia Hills City Council, $5.1 million in local school revenues, $2.6 million from the child nutrition program sales, $1.1 million in interest, $100,000 from other county taxes and $315,000 in miscellaneous funds.
The school district is proposing to undertake a major capital project at Vestavia Hills High School for arts and athletic additions that are estimated to cost $19.5 million, but that project is not reflected in the 2027 budget because the funding for that project has yet to be approved. This would include a new band room, renovated theater and renovated classrooms for dance, choir, theater and band auxiliary groups, Freeman said. It also would include an athletic facility in the back of the school for wrestling, volleyball, basketball and other uses, he said.
The school system is asking the Vestavia Hills City Council to provide $6 million upfront for that and plans to borrow the other $13.5 million, Freeman said. The city also is being asked to provide $280,000 annually to help pay off the debt service for the project, he said.
If that project moves forward in 2027, revenues from a potential bond issue likely would be reflected in 2027 financials, but expenses for the actual construction might not hit the school system’s books until fiscal 2028, Brown said.
Capital expenditures that are in the 2027 budget include $755,000 for improvements to the Vestavia Hills High School softball complex, $200,000 for bathroom renovations at elementary schools, $150,000 for painting projects, $140,000 for a security vestibule at the Vestavia Hills High School, $100,000 for security vestibules at the freshman campus, $100,000 for elevator repair and replacement, $75,000 for classroom furniture and $30,000 for flooring.
See a lot more detailed information about the Vestavia Hills Board of Education’s 2027 budget online here, and listen to Brown’s budget presentation here.
