Politics & Government

School Board Unanimously Passes Budget with "Breathing Room"

The 2012-2013 is predicted to have a $489,000 surplus.

The Mehlville school board unanimously passed a budget for the 2012-2013 school year that gives the district a little bit of breathing room, Superintendent Eric Knost said.

The budget Chief Financial Officer Noel Knobloch presented Thursday provides funding for the ,  and the second phase of the .

Total revenue tallied $101,851,000 with $101,362,000 in expenses, a $489,000 surplus. The district will end the 2011-2012 school year with approximately 22 percent in reserves, well above the district’s comfort level of 13 percent and the state’s mandated 3 percent reserve balance.

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Revenues

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Knobloch said revenues in the current fiscal year are better than expected due to additional money from the state. The formula payment that decides state funding was paid out at 94 percent, rather than the originally projected 93 percent.

If the formula had been fully funded, the district would have received $700,000 more from the state.

“The future for our funding in the state is still very clouded. They’re projecting 92 percent (funding) next year, which is $1 million less if it would be fully funded for us,” Knobloch said. “So that’s the amount of money we’ve lost the last couple of years.”

The district also received more than $800,000 in sales tax revenue, the largest amount ever received, Knobloch said.

Expenses

Salaries, , are 77 percent of overall expenses. While the retirement fund contribution stays constant, Knobloch predicts medical insurance costs to increase by 10 percent. 

The district also did not fill all of its staff positions left open by retirement and saved money by reorganizing and replacing retired higher-salaried staff with lower salaries.

The district allocated approximately $500,000 for the second phase of the laptop pilot program and started on the first year of its facilities improvement plan.

Capital expenses include replacing the fire alarms at ($250,000), repairing the roof on the Witzel Learning Center ($150,000), repairing asphalt ($250,000), purchasing gym curtain dividers ($76,000) and building new tennis courts at Bernard Middle School ($450,000). 

Knobloch said one of the only surprises in capital expenses is the removal of fuel tanks in the transportation department and behind the Witzel Learning Center. The expense, already factored into the budget, is expected to cost $200,000. 

“This is a great example of why you have reserves because you’re going to have these things that you don’t plan on,” Knost said. “We’ve known about the old oil tank behind Witzel. (Director of Facilities) Steve Habeck has been dealing with that for quite sometime and we knew that we had to do something to take care of that.”

The budget is considered a living document and will be revised to reflect changes throughout the year. 


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