Farmington School Approves $20 Million Budget

FARMINGTON — The School Boar on Aug. 21 approved a $20.5 million budget for the 2017-18 school year.

Projected revenues for the year include $5.5 million from property taxes, $12.5 million from state aid based on student population, $890,000 from Act 79 (homestead taxes from the county) and about $500,000 from the federal school lunch program.

Projected expenditures are $10 million for the teacher salary fund, $8 million for the operating fund, which includes employee benefits, operating, maintenance and transportation expenditures, and salaries for classified employees.

The district’s debt service for 2017-18 will be $2.3 million in principal, interest and fees.

The district will begin the year with a beginning balance of $740,000 and estimates an ending yearend balance of $711,000. For 2016-17, the school was able to transfer $780,000 to its capital improvement projects fund and this is not reflected in the beginning balance.

Mandy Uher, district treasurer, said the state has changed how it will distribute money based on student growth and this will most likely mean a reduction in state aid for Farmington.

Schools receive $6,713 per student from the state and student growth is important for revenue, said Superintendent Bryan Law.

“We need student numbers to come up,” Law said, noting Farmington uses its student growth money to pay for capital improvement projects and other non-recurring costs in the classroom.

State aid for 2017-18 is based on a student enrollment of 2,500 students. Enrollment for the first week of school was around 2,460 students but these numbers tend to change daily during the first few weeks of school. The school will send in its first official report on enrollment numbers on Oct. 1.