JACKSON SCHOOLS FINISH SLIGHTLY OVER BUDGET

JACKSON -- With just over two weeks left in its fiscal year, the Jackson School District will likely finish with slightly higher balances than were projected.

The district ends its fiscal year June 30. Drafts of school district budgets are adopted at the beginning of the fiscal year, then finalized in late fall. Budget revisions are then made throughout the year as needed to reconcile how money is spent with the itemized budget.

In a report to the Board of Education during a meeting Tuesday, Assistant Superintendent Terry Gibbons said reduced spending and increased revenue will leave the district with more money in its funding categories than was projected in the budget. Administrators had estimated the district would outspend its revenue by $1,411,223. With most of the final spending accounted for, the district was able to cut the deficit spending amount to $401,394.

The difference means fund balances are about 21 percent of the $23.9 million budget, rather than the projected amount of 16 percent. State guidelines suggest districts maintain fund balances of at least 10 percent of their annual budget. Once a district falls to 3 percent, it is deemed financially stressed and must take action to rebuild fund balances or risk takeover by the state.

"This is, at the time, our best guess, but we feel we're very close to coming up with what our ending balances are going to be," said Gibbons.

Superintendent Ron Anderson said the budget year might have ended on an even better note, but transportation issues -- including increased gasoline prices -- increased some expenditures beyond projections.

"This year there were several things we couldn't control. For example, transportation spending over the past three or four months has changed drastically," Anderson said. "This year was not as good as we hoped, but we're ending pretty close to where we anticipated."

The school board approved a recommendation from administrators to transfer $1.2 million from the district's operating fund to the capital projects fund, which is used to cover maintenance and upkeep costs. The additional amount left that fund with a $2.2 million balance to be used for purchases of equipment and maintenance supplies, as well as other items.

The transfer, which was not included in the original budget, was recommended to ensure enough money is on hand to cover any budgeted or emergency maintenance expenditures that might be needed in the next fiscal year.

"We have no levy in (the capital projects fund), so we have no way of making money in it outside of building balances and making transfers," Gibbons said. "This is just to make sure if we need the money for spending in that category next year it is available."