ELLY GRIMM
• Leader & Times
Budget time has come for the local governing entities, and the USD 480 school district is not exempt from that process.
As USD 480 Director of Business Services Nila Newton tells it, the district’s budget for the coming year is in positive shape.
“Our budget for the year looks really good. We were able to approve a budget with our tax rate that is slightly below what it was last year in the total. Our General Fund is always 20 mills, and our Capital Outlay is eight mills,” Newton said. “The Supplemental Local Option Budget increased to 19 mills, but we brought the bonded interest down to 2.7, so our overall will be 49.806, and last year it was 50.003, so that is going down just slightly. We have an overall budget of $102 million after the transfers are taken out, which is up from $82 million last year, and part of that will be federal funds. This will be the last year of having the ESSER funds, so that will be coming off in the future, and that's about $11 million budgeted for this year. Our General Fund is up $3 million, which is a great trend to have, and our Local Option Budget is up about $2 million. What we're expecting from the state is another couple of years of good funding. What drives our budget is enrollment, and our enrollment has increased a little bit and stayed steady in increasing, while other districts are seeing reductions in enrollment, so we're one of the lucky districts. In addition to that, we're really lucky because the state is matching our Capital Outlay 92 percent, so for every $1 of local revenue we bring in, the state will give us $0.92, so that is great, and we're able to improve and maintain our buildings and assets because of that. Overall, I feel like we've got a very healthy budget, and we were able to give some very healthy raises, and that's because we knew the state would be funding us well this school year. And with our ability to maintain a very level mill levy, we're in a very good position for this year, so we feel like this year will be extraordinary.”
Newton added a top priority for this year’s budget is what she called the “human capital” side of the district.
“Our people are our priority this year ... and not JUST the people, we're going to very much be focused on our certified staff. There's going to be a big push for us to get more certified staff, that's why we're one of the first districts to bring our entry-level teaching positions to $50,000 per year, and we're very proud of that, that makes us one of the better-paying districts in the state,” Newton said. “And the reason for that is because we really want to attract our certified teachers. So our priority is in staffing right now, we have got to get quality staff, and the budget is built this year to get quality staff to improve our curriculum, which we've got money set aside to do. The big priorities this time around are staff and the curriculum, because we're focusing on the students, the education of the students is the big thing. The new superintendent, Stephen Linkous, has made that a top priority, and now we've got the new assistant superintendent of academics, Dr. Maria Gomez-Rocque, and she's analyzing the curriculum across the board. Curriculum and staff are the big focuses for the budget this year. I feel like we've done a really good job with facilities, and we've got a facilities plan in progress we'll be revisiting in the future. Our main focus this year will be the teaching staff, certified staff, professional development and curriculum. What will be seen later on is more work on the facilities side, but there has been a lot of work already done in that regard, so it took a bit of a backseat to staffing and curriculum.”
Overall, Newton said, everything for the coming year’s budget came together very, very well.
“We have the most amazing board, and I think this was one of the smoothest budget processes I've ever been involved with,” Newton said. “The board's been extraordinarily supportive of our plans as far as paying staff, how we put the budget together with that emphasis on supporting especially the certified staff. The budget just came together so, so well for this year – Mr. Linkous stepped in, and everything just clicked, and he's been great about bringing the board and other district administration together. It's been a great year, and I can't give enough praise to everyone involved with the budget stuff this time around.”
Newton also talked about the Revenue Neutral Rate, a hot topic among budgets this year.
“With USD 480, the reason we're exceeding the Revenue Neutral Rate is, first off, the appraised values for our tax base went up, so we exceeded the Revenue Neutral Rate only because with our Capital Outlay, for us to make the same amount of revenue as we did last year, we'd have to set a mill levy of 7.8 mills instead of eight. So we exceeded the Revenue Neutral Rate by choosing to go with eight,” Newton said. “We want to maximize our local dollars because the state is matching us at 92 percent, so that is one area where we feel we're justified in exceeding the Revenue Neutral Rate. Another area where we're exceeding is with the Local Option Budget, which we have really no control over – to make the same amount of revenue as last year, our Revenue Neutral Rate was around 16, and just because of the way the funding formulas worked out this year, and the size of our General Fund, we will be exceeding there as well. We exceeded in one area but then went down in another area, so with our overall mill levy, there's no increase there.”
Being able to maintain the mill levy is another huge positive, Newton said.
“I think everyone was really excited about us being able to pull together such an aggressive and supportive budget that still maintained the mill levy,” Newton said. “The board was excited, Mr. Linkous was excited, and it all has to do with the state funding formula for this year. It's really no magic on our part, it's just how everything worked out for us for this year. In the future, the formula will probably change, but this year, we were able to come up with a plan to pay our staff and keep the mill levy level. We're very hopeful to have similar good fortune in the future, but we're really happy everyone was able to come together so well this time around. I'm very pleased how, with our bonded interest, the state is matching at 91 percent, so with what we pay on our bond payment, the state will give us 91 percent of that funding. The Capital Outlay, like I said, is at 92 percent, and our At-Risk funding is also very good this year, so I feel like the state has put us in a position to be able to really make a difference. And if we can get some certified teachers, the community will see some changes in what we're doing.”
Overall, Newton said, this year’s budget should be good for everyone involved.
“We've all worked with other school districts, and USD 480 has an incredible board and administration, so I can't say enough about that. They support the staff, the administration, and they do a great job. They're always available for meetings and talks, and we wouldn't have such a great budget this year if we didn't have such a great board,” Newton said. “We've also got a great new superintendent who's very supportive. Putting together a budget takes a team, and if there's one piece that's not working, it can throw off the entire process and set everything back, and I feel like with how this ended up, we'll be on the path toward amazing things this school year, and I'm really excited.”
