The new budget reflects a $31 million, or 11.59%, increase from the FY 2021-22 original budget and a $24 million, or 8.66%, increase from the FY 2021-22 amended budget, according to district documents, and it continues to increase along with the growth of the county.
Student enrollment has also risen over the years by about 3,600 students from 2017 to what is projected for 2023, which is one of the factors evaluated when the budget was put together. The new 7% cost-of-living adjustment for all employees was also taken into account in the budget, of which 64.07% of the expenditures is comprised of payroll.
The general operating fund was allocated $224.7 million for counseling and social work services; health; transportation; community service; and other items essential to district operations. About $10.4 million will go toward the child nutrition fund while $71.5 million will go toward the debt service fund.
The estimated revenue for the budget is $295.4 million, with more than half of that coming from $196.3 million in property tax revenue, a $40 million increase from the FY 2021-22 budget.
The budget comes with an $11.1 million deficit that will be watched closely throughout the year to try and minimize expenditures, Chief Financial Officer Randall Rau said at the meeting.
