By Graham Sturgeon, staff writer
The Durand Board of Education voted during their Monday, June 29, Committee of the Whole meeting to approve the proposed budget for the 2015-2016 school year. The school district has seen steady growth in their General Fund equity over the past few years and the current 2015-2016 school year is projected to push that number further into the black.
The district will begin the year with an unofficial $692,200 in their General Fund, which is a great improvement from the $223,597 fund equity on July 1, 2013. The district is hopeful to continue that positive momentum through the current school year as they expect to have revenues-over-expenses of $30,807, which would push the General Fund equity to $723,007.
The district will collect 24.7 mills from their tax base, which will total $1,253,285 – 18 of those mills will come from the non-homestead operating millage that is required for the district to receive the full amount of per-pupil state aid, and the other 6.7 mills will come from the 2015 Debt Fund.
The per-pupil amount of state aid the district will receive for the 2015-2016 school year will increase roughly $90 per student, which will generate $128,000 of new revenue. The district is expecting to see their overall enrollment number drop from 1,503 to 1,430, which will mean over $500,000 in lost revenue, but the increase in per-pupil funding will offset some of that loss.
The district has budgeted $13,025,896 in revenue for the year and $12,995,089 in expenses. That would leave the district’s General Fund balance at 5.550 percent of the district’s total revenue, which would be an improvement over their current 5.314 percent.
