Levy at 1 percent increase, but final figures are months away
By Jennifer Eisenbart
Staff Writer
The Burlington Area School District has begun to narrow down the numbers for its 2013-14 budget, but there will be several different factors up in the air for the next few months.
BASD officials are expecting a total budget of about $37.7 million. That includes about a $300,000 increase in special education funding to meet federal “maintenance of effort” regulations, and an increase of 1 percent for budgeted staff salaries.
Teachers are still in negotiations for wages for the 2012-13 school year, and any increase budgeted will work off of the final numbers agreed on between the district and the Burlington Education Association.
The largest single drop in expenditures will be in technology purchases, as BASD did a major purchase of $1.3 million in 2012-13 and will only spend about $334,000 this year – on its technology lease.
However, the district budget is allowing for a 1 percent increase in the tax levy currently, and is assuming state aid will hold steady. The district is also expecting to use about $540,000 from its fund balance.
The latter may not be 100 percent accurate, as the district got word Monday from the state that state aid might actually increase. That will be up in the air until official numbers come out in July, though. An estimate is expected in about a month, however.
Right now, the district is still in the process of bidding out its benefits – specifically, health insurance, according to BASD Superintendent Peter Smet.
“We have not received all the results yet,” he said.
One sticking point in the budget seems to be the cost of retirement benefits. The subject came up in the audit earlier this year, and School Board member Roger Koldeway wants to see the district start to “pre-pay” those benefits by putting money away.
“It’s like swiping a credit card every year,” he said at Monday’s finance meeting.
However, Smet said the district has always followed a “pay as you go” philosophy – as many other districts in the state do. The difference, he said, is philosophical, in that the expenditures will have to be made on an ongoing basis. It is just a question of whether the district would choose to put money aside each year for a staff member, or simply pay that money when a staff member retires.
School Board president David Thompson asked Monday night for the district to contact a lawyer to receive recommendations on how to handle the issue.
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