School District Approves Fiscal Year ‘17 Budget
The Glenwood Community School District Board of Education unanimously approved its 2016-2017 school district budget at a special meeting Monday, April 4.
Following a public hearing, the board voted 5-0 to approve a $32 million budget. The proposed budget for next year shows a net decrease of nearly $8 million from the 2015-2016 re-estimated budget figure for the district. Despite that nearly 20-percent budget decrease, the district’s property tax rate will go up slightly from 13.73162 per $1,000 taxable valuation in the current year to 13.74644 for next year.
Glenwood Business Manager Kristi Buman said the budget reduction reflects a two-year trend of the district paying off its bond debt early resulting in a substantial financial savings. By paying off bond debt for the high school construction, the district is reducing both its principal and interest with refinancing.
“So that shows, next year, we won’t be paying off that $7 million expenditure and because we won’t be making principal and interest payments on that bond that is another $500,000 we won’t be spending,” Buman said of the “other expenditures” line item.
The district’s $4.4 million “other expenditures” line item includes, in addition to debt service like its bond payments, also covers Area Education Agency support as well as facilities acquisition and construction. With its 43.9 percent decrease from last year’s total re-estimated budget amount, the cut in other expenditures is a direct result of both the district’s calling in bonds early in both 2015 and 2016 and what superintendent Devin Embray says the school district has been fiscally responsible in trying economic times for districts throughout the state.
“We always look for attrition areas and ways we can save money without touching the overall programs so we look for opportunities every year to call bonds early and re-finance if the economic climate is favorable,” Embray said.
A review of the school district budget’s line item expenses shows the “instruction” cost, at $16.8 million, remains the largest budget requirement. That figure, which covers staff salaries and benefits, shows a 6.3 percent increase from the previous year. It also reflects a 3.52 percent raise for the district’s 150 teachers.
The district’s “support services” line item, which covers everything from the district’s administrators, guidance counselors and nurses salaries and benefits to the district’s libraries and building and transportation services, shows a net increase of 14.7 percent to $8.8 million. Embray said a 3.5 percent salary increase for non-union staff and administrators is in the works but has yet to be approved by the school board.
Living within its budget capacity, according to Embray, has Glenwood in better shape than many districts.
"We try to stay within the money we get but we know that doesn’t always happen,” Embray said. “Knock on wood, we haven’t had to cut (programs) in six years. We’ve absorbed teaching positions with one time money from the federal government and while enduring some enrollment loss years and flat (growth) years and with a little bit of growth we’ve been able to maintain. So as long as we don’t go crazy then we can maintain by scrutinizing class size ratios and programs and operating expenses.”
One question mark in the district’s budget was answered last week when legislators and Gov. Terry Branstad set the state’s allowable growth rate at 2.25 percent. The allowable growth rate is the figure by which the state sets aid to local districts. State aid represents 55 percent of the Glenwood district’s regular education costs with the remainder of revenue coming from local tax dollars (36 percent) and federal funds (9 percent).
Each year presents uncertainty and political debate over the allowable growth rate, but Glenwood guessed right in setting its figure at 2.25 percent before the rate was signed into law by Branstad. Following last year’s lengthy debate in the Iowa legislature, the allowable growth was set at 1.25 percent.