2009-2010 Budget

I thought I'd spend some time this week highlighting some information about the new school year. One of the main things that I do over the summer is work on the school budget, so I thought I'd talk about it on my blog. Here are some facts about our adopted budget:

• The total amount of revenues (state, local, and federal) is $1,482,254. This is an increase of nearly $200,000 over last year's revenue. The largest portion of that increase is approximately $93,000 in revenue from the state that was earned in 2008-09. You see, schools are actually paid from the state based on the previous year's student count. In 08-09, the state projected a lower enrollment than what we actually had, so the state will have to "settle-up" for what we were to be paid last year. This "settle-up" works both ways - in years past the state has paid us more than what we should have received and WISD has had to pay the state back. This year, however, we are owed money from the state, therefore we will receive additional revenue. The remainder of the additional revenue comes from addition funds provided by the state in the new school finance legislation and some additional federal revenue.
• Expenditures are projected to be $1,426,642. This includes a state-mandated pay raise to teachers and staff, the addition of new personnel, and increases in expenditures for supplies for students. One of the main instructional focuses for the district is science and there is an increase in the budget for science supplies.
• In the end, there is a projected budget surplus of approximately $55,000 that will be used to replenish the district's fund balance (savings account). WISD has needed to use fund balance over the last several years to cover expenses. This year should allow us to save money for future years.
• For local homeowners, the property tax rate is set to $0.90 per $100 of valuation. This means that the average homeowner in the district, with an average homestead value of $43,324, will pay $389.92 in taxes to the school district. WISD has maintained the same tax rate since 2007 and has actually reduced the tax rate 27% since 2005.

For more information about the budget, please see the "Budget Summary" link under finance on the WISD homepage. This budget summary compares last year's budget to the newly adopted budget and will provide more specific details about different funding categories in the budget. Also, you can contact me in the office and I will answer any specific questions about the budget.