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7/16/2010 12:00 AMJennifer Edwards, West Sherburne Tribune “We finished the year where we expected to be,” he said. The district ended the year in June, 2010 with $1,969,116 in the general fund, which includes staff development, health and safety, operating capital, deferred maintenance, and an unreserved amount for athletics and student activities, severance pay and elementary school computers. They expect to end the next school year with a balance of $3,081,085 to stay on track with the five-year plan presented to voters at the levy referendum. The levy will be in effect for the next 10 years. Finance Manager Angie Manuel presented the original budget for 2010-11. “This is the culmination of a process which began last December,” she said. “We start with the ending balance from last year.” Based on a 100-page report, the board approved the budget at their meeting in March. This is the first year the levy referendum takes effect, giving the district $1.8 million in additional funding. “The new revenue is helping our cash flow greatly,” Manuel said. The district is anticipating 3,561 students will attend Big Lake Schools in the fall. This is the same number of students as were enrolled in 2008-09. Enrollment is expected to grow again in 2011, Manuel said. The zero-based budget is intended to offset recent demands on revenue, including an enrollment decline of 40 students and the two-year teacher contract settled last year. The district is not expecting an increase in state funding for the next two years. The budget includes funding for reasonable, competitive salary increases for non-union employees necessary to remain in compliance with pay equity regulations, Manuel said. “If we don’t do this, we can get in trouble,” she said. A gradual recovery from past budget reductions has been complicated by increasing statutory mandates and reassessment of priorities. Funding has not kept up with demands put on the school district at state and federal levels. Food Service There will be no increase in the price of school meals this year, Manuel reported. Food service ended the the year with a balance of $123,408. Anticipated revenues are $1,345,332 and expenditures are expected to be $1,332,836. The fund balance at the end of the 2010-11 school year should be $135,904. “Food service is doing well,” Manuel said. “Director Mary Klesk has been doing a great job, buying food in bulk with other school districts. She has managed to keep costs down.” Fewer Babies The number of infants in the 0-4 age group has declined in the district, reducing the demand for Early Childhood Family Education classes which comes under the banner of Community Education along with School Readiness, Manuel reported. “There is a funding cap, so there has been a little deficit spending there,” she said. Community Education ended the last school year with $111,717 and is expected to end the 2010-11 school year with $79,769. Debt service funds, like a monthly mortgage, cover the bricks and mortar of the buildings, are not permitted to accumulate. “We have to pay back the capital,” Manuel said. “It’s the same thing with OPEB bonds issued last year. They are highly regulated and you can’t keep a balance in those funds.” One big change in the budget balance occurred when the board agreed to the purchase of new computers for the elementary school, funding the $160,000 purchase through undesignated compensatory funds. It is the boards’ intent to pay the general fund back over the next five years for this purchase. The sum of $32,000 is budgeted for that purpose during 2010-11. “If we can do it in three years, that would be better,” said Board Member Tom Pietrzak. The district ended the last school year with a total fund balance of $5,305,265 and is anticipating a total fund balance of $6,056,206 at the end of the new school year in June. “We will look at this again in the fall and update the information with actual numbers,” Manuel said. “The budget is a fluid document. Numbers change as things come up, but we are where we expected to be.” http://westsherburnetribune.com/main.asp?SectionID=2&SubSectionID=66&ArticleID=16312 | |||||||||||||||||||||
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