USD 234 officials pleased with new budget

USD 234 officials are pleased with the proposed budget for the 2014-15 year.

During a special meeting Monday, USD 234 Business Manager Susan Brown provided members of the Board of Education with a glimpse of the planned budget and discussed with them such items as mill levies, increased expenditures and various differences in this year's budget from last year's budget.

Although expenses in many areas have increased, extra revenue gained will help balance the budget and keep the overall mill levy flat in the proposed budget.

"The budget looks really good this year," Brown said. "This is a really good year for us. We have some breathing room in the budget. We were able to free up some levy and move it to other areas."

Due to changes in funding this year, the district is able to budget the maximum expenditures in its supplemental general fund. This also allowed the ability to move levy authority to the capital outlay fund and bond and interest fund, Brown said.

"In the past, we levied 20 mills in the supplemental general fund," she said after the meeting. "Over time, we had borrowed those mills from the capital outlay fund. For the last several years, we haven't been able to levy anything in capital outlay ... it's something we definitely needed to do. Also, the state hadn't been doing a state aid match and this year they started matching that again so we moved part of the levy to the capital outlay fund."

Brown said the capital outlay fund is used for such district expenditures as maintenance of the district's buildings and fleet of vehicles.

District officials and board members said they are pleased they are looking at a different budget than last year in which a slight mill levy increase was needed and the district faced other concerns such as declines in enrollment and state funding.

"State funding wasn't coming in as high (last year)," Brown said.

"This is a very different conversation than last year," board member Jamie Armstrong said.

The levy in the district's supplemental general fund, or local option budget (LOB), will drop 10 mills in the proposed budget, to 10.6 mills. Brown said this will "max out the LOB at 30 percent."

"That's the maximum amount based on state aid for the general fund budget," she said after the meeting. "A good thing is we haven't passed the burden onto local taxpayers and kept it (mill levy) as flat as we could. This year, they're funding it (LOB) at 100 percent. We're getting more state aid funding to max out the LOB."

Brown said although expenses have increased, the overall mill levy of 44.5 mills will not increase due to an increase in state aid per pupil - from $12,974 last year to $14,209 this year - and the district being able to "max out the LOB."

Brown said mill levy rates have "stayed relatively flat" in recent years.

The district will also be levying less taxes than last year. Local revenues generated are projected to decrease from $8.6 million last year to $7.2 million this year, Brown said.

"Locally, tax relief is the big thing," she said.

By moving levy authority from the supplemental general fund to the capital outlay fund, the district will gain $250,000 in state aid and $500,000 from local sources. Spending out of the capital outlay fund also frees up money in the LOB and general funds to help with expenses, Brown said.

"We're in a very good position this year," she said.

Increases in some district funds will give district officials budget authority to spend those funds. Brown said spending in the new budget should be similar to last year's levels, but the budgeted increases would give the district the authority to spend funds for any unexpected expenses next year.

Brown said budget estimates were based on a projected FTE enrollment figure of 1,810 for 2014-15.

During the meeting, Board President Jordan Witt commended Brown and district officials for their work planning the budget.

"It's nice to feel good this year," Witt said.

Brown also discussed the district's plan to start replacing school buses every year and the need to start addressing district vehicles.

Brown said she plans to meet this week with Kansas State Department of Education Deputy Commissioner Dale Dennis about the district's budget and the proposed budget should be ready for publication by the end of next week. A public hearing on the budget is planned for Aug. 11 during the board's regular monthly meeting.

In other business Monday, the board:

* Approved the five-year professional development plan for faculty in the district. Brown said the district must have a development plan in place for its teachers.

"It helps them achieve renewal of their certificates and also provides enhancement in the classroom as well," she said.

USD 234 Superintendent Bob Beckham said a plan should be in place every five years showing "how we document and track professional development" in teachers and "this is the fifth year."

* Approved the low bid of $33,800 from M&M Construction, a local contractor, for replacement of roofs on the press box and concession stand at Frary Field, as well as demolition of two old houses on district property that officials said are beyond repair. Brown said the district received two bids for the project. The other bidder was Double K Construction of Mound City which submitted a $36,373 bid.

Brown said the old houses are currently used for district storage. The roofs to be repaired were damaged by hail in the April 2013 hail storm. Funding for the project will come out of the capital outlay fund.

"We're going local and cheaper," Beckham said.