Colfax School okays next year’s budget

Colfax school board members July 16 approved a $6,039,775 budget for the coming school year. The total sum is up about $7,800 over the present budget year. The approval vote was booked during the board session after a budget hearing.

In his report to the board, Reece Jenkin, district business manager, said the budget for next year now carries a $134,000 deficit which would come out of the district’s reserve fund.

District reserves, which can vary from month to month depending on cash flow, were at about $475,000 at the end of June. The board’s goal is to have approximately a month of operational costs, approximately $500,000, in the operations reserve fund.

Revenue estimate for next year was pegged at $5,905,373.

Jenkin pointed out the district’s spending plan for the next year is again conservative and the $134,000 deficit could vanish if some of the spending items, such as sick leave payouts for possible retirees, turn out not to be needed.

“Where we’re at, at $134,000 right now, I’m positive we can come out even from that,” Jenkin said at the meeting.

“There’s not a whole lot of changes from last year,” he said. “It’s a good thing too, after three years of cuts.”

He pointed out a decrease in state Levy Equalization (LEA) funds, which drops from $272,621 to $225,524 because the Colfax District’s assessed value is going up. The state equalization program is aimed by subsidizing districts around the state who have relatively lower tax revenues because they have low assessed property values.

Jenkin noted the district took a $45,000 cutback in LEA funding last year.

“Our biggest losses are apportionment and LEA, and it’s getting backfed by local levy dollars,” Jenkin said.

Most of the drop in the state’s apportionment funding reflects the drop of enrollment.

The Colfax student population projected for the coming year is 571, down from 611 at this time last year. The state now pays approximately $5,500 per student.

District Supt. Michael Morgan told the Gazette he attributes the population loss mainly to families moving away for jobs.

Colfax school payroll expenses are projected to increase $40,897 to $2,520,862 for certified employees and drop $21,831 for classified employees to $1,006,353.

Cost of employee benefits is projected to drop about $25,723 to $1,223,077 for next year.

Jenkin pointed out an actual turnout of students over the projected number increases anticipated revenue and offsets the projected deficit.

Supt. Morgan pointed out the year’s budget comes down to a “best guess” for the district’s spending.

“This is a number we’d love to be accurate on, because it’s our budget,” he said. “A budget is a prediction, a plan to work from, but plans are only plans.”