The Chandler Unified School District is acting now to deal with sticky financial issues that could occur in several years when enrollment is expected to decline.

Among the first issues the governing board will consider is a proposal that would change retiree health benefits — saving the district some $17 million over the next 30 years.

Under current rules, an employee who has worked in Chandler for 15 consecutive years can stay on the district’s health insurance for 18 months after retirement. The retiree also receives a subsidy of $250 per month to help pay for the insurance premium — an amount that can rise based on the market rate of insurance.

Last year, the board voted to limit these benefits to employees who were hired before 2007.

But officials still worry that as the district becomes built out and enrollment slows, that plan will not be sustainable.

“We can still afford it now; it’s not a problem. But we know it will become a problem when we stop growing,” said Chief Financial Officer Joel Wirth.

“The superintendent doesn’t want to hand off a mess into the hands of a future superintendent.”

The Chandler district has remained mostly untouched by the budget woes afflicting most school districts this year, largely because it is continuing to gain students.

But officials estimate that growth could begin to stagnate as soon as 2010. Even next year, growth will likely start to slow, said spokesman Terry Locke. The district, which has been growing by some 1,200 to 1,500 students per year, will see just 500 to 800 new students this fall, he said.

Under the district’s proposal — which still must be voted on by the board — retiree health benefits would be much more limited.

First, employees would have to work in the district for at least 20 consecutive years to qualify for the benefits, and they would no longer be able to use the district’s health insurance for 18 months after retirement.

The district will still give retirees a $250 monthly subsidy for health insurance premiums — but that amount will no longer grow to cover inflation.

“That’s the rate now, but it will be that rate forever, even as the cost of insurance goes up,” Wirth said.

Locke said this is just one of the ways the district is dealing with an impending drop in enrollment.

“We have been planning for buildout even as we experienced hypergrowth over the last few years,” he said. “We were careful not to add programs that we would have difficulty maintaining when enrollment is stagnant or decreasing, and we’ve worked on building contingencies so that we are not in panic mode the first time our enrollment declines or remains the same.”