August 22 Board Meeting - Tentative Budget

Supt. Jackie Krause presented the tentative budget for Fiscal Year 2006 and announced that a Public Hearing for the budget will take place at the next regular Board Meeting, Sept. 26, 7:00 PM, in the Middle School Library.

Dr. Krause started by saying she'd gone over the projected FY '05 budget that former Supt. John Hill prepared, and found that the projections in that budget came very close to the actuals, and that District 3 wound up with $15K more in fund balances than was projected. She added that she projects an additional $94 in fund balances. She added that the surplus from FY '05 over the previous fiscal year was 3.49%, and that she projects the surplus in FY '06 to be 3.09%.

She went on to say that monies from property tax payments don't happen if people don't pay their taxes. She noted that the district was now getting tax payments from 2004. Board Member Bob Nunamaker suggested that tax payments were made to school districts, and that taxes were collected in arrears, but that notion was challenged by Dr. Krause.

After saying that finances give him a headache, Board Member Gerry Blohm asked to clarify that if we add the percentages from FY '05 and FY '06 together, we are ahead over 6%. Dr. Krause said yes, over two years. Blohm added, "If the stars line up, we are on track."

"On track for what?" responded Nunamaker. Dr. Mahaffy answered 3% per year.

Dr. Krause said that tax money comes into the district 9 times a year, in varying amounts. She said that the district has a good idea of how much money will come in each installment, but they don't know for certain how much until the money actually comes in.

Nunamaker suggested that the district should work to keep increases in expenditures even with increases in revenues. Dr. Krause said she shares that philosophy, and that she tries to be as frugal as possible, but that some things are out of the district's control. Nunamaker countered that some things are in the district's control. Other Board members challenged Nunamaker to name some things that the district can control. Nunamaker noted that the preliminary budget projects $20 K less from sales of student lunches. Dr. Krause responded that this was because the district has fewer students. Nunamaker went on to say that it was a fiscal discipline issue, to which Dr. Krause responded by saying that she shares his philosophy.

Nunamaker commented that Dr. Krause mentioned 3 funds from which the district could loan itself money. He wondered if the district should go ahead and borrow that money, in case the district needs to issue Tax Anticipation Warrants later in the year. Dr. Krause suggested that the Board might not want to do that. For example, the district might be in a bad position if it borrowed from the Transportation Fund, and a bus breaks down. She further noted that funds cannot be loaned to the Education Fund; they can only be loaned amongst the three funds.

Nunamaker expressed some frustration at the idea that the district has money in the bank, but cannot use it for its own good. Board Member Pat Hughes said that he shares Nunamaker's concern, but that if the district gets to a 15% surplus in 5 years, he won't worry about line items.

Dr. Krause closed the discussion by saying that former Supt. John Hill used to say that the budget is transparent. She said she doesn't know how much more transparent the district can be with the budget.