School board passes $40 million budget

School board members approved a balanced $40.35 million budget during a special meeting Monday.

The annual budget represents only local and state money and does not include federal or covid-19 relief funds, according to Superintendent Jody Wiggins.

It is the first time in a number of years the district passed a balanced budget, Wiggins said. In recent years, the district either budgeted for excess funds at the end of the year or for a deficit, he said.

Wiggins told board members there are positives and negatives to planning a balanced budget. On the plus side, the budget is more in tune with how the district has been receiving and spending money over the past several years. On the downside, it doesn’t include a plan for a catastrophe, said Terri Raskiewicz, chief financial officer.

In previous years, the school has played it safe on revenue and expenses and budgeted for a shortfall, but instead they ended up with large surplus, Wiggins said. For example, the district budgeted for a $1.65 million shortfall in the 2020-2021 school year, but ended the year with an excess of $96,349.

The current budget is an accurate representation of what officials think is going to happen this year, Wiggins said.

“The downside of that is if we do have that catastrophe in the winter and we have an extremely cold period of time for six weeks and our electric bills skyrocket, or pipes freeze, then there is always the possibility we are going to be way off budget and we may even have to come back at some point and ask you to revise,” Wiggins said.

The 2021-2022 budget increases the amount of expected revenue from local sources by $1.32 million to $17.56 million, according to budget documents. Last year the district budgeted for $16.24 million in local revenue but actually received $17.56 million.

Similarly, the current budget increases the amount state revenue by $654,726 to $22.78 million to more accurately reflect the $22.62 million the district brought in last year, according to documents.

The budget also increases expected expenses by $328,781 to $40.35 million. Last year the district budgeted for $40.03 million and actually spent $40.09 million.

The district spends about 73.2 percent of revenue on salaries and benefits, 6.9 percent on bond payments, and 3.1 percent on utility payments, leaving about