Strategic Budget Activities
In the past, the district’s budget was built conservatively, on the premise of zero growth in student enrollment. This year we are budgeting revenues to take into account the projected increase in the number of students who will attend our schools. This will be done because enrollment growth previously did not provide sufficient revenues to alter the outcome of the budgeted fiscal year. Last fiscal year 2004/2005, and this fiscal year 2005/2006, we have seen sufficient growth to affect our revenues. The 2006/ 2007 fiscal year is also projected to see sufficient enrollment growth to provide additional revenues. As such, we are conservatively projecting seventy-five new students for a total of $455,200. In addition, during the past several years of careful stewardship, our general fund budget is healthy enough to absorb some risk in the case that student growth projections do not materialize.
Construction in the school district to provide space for new students and upgrade existing facilities is projected to continue for the next three to five years. These purchases are contained in our building fund of approximately $5 million. These dollars are the result of savings during the bond/sales tax projects, the collection of Fees in Lieu, state construction grants, and federal QZAB interest free loans. Generally, we have caught up on deferred maintenance with only a handful of large, expensive projects left to finish in the next two years.
The 2006-2007 budget, as in previous years, continues to be a long-term strategy of well-spent tax dollars towards learning, instruction and our children’s success. This can be done with the additional resources we already have in our supportive community, and our professional and committed teaching and support staff.
