Enrollment Dip and Still Looking to Build?
How can you adjust/reduce staffing while pursuing a bond election? Isn’t it one or the other? The question posed is not an OR question, rather, it is an “AND” question. A District may experience years where they look to build and improve facilities while adjusting General Fund expenditures due to enrollment changes. Even with a decline in numbers, the District's needs remain the same for us to address our short-term and long-term space needs (e.g., we still have district and non-district activities that need space). To validate the need, check out our gym calendar. General Fund dollars pay for staffing. When one has an increase in kids, one has more GF revenue. When one has a decrease, one has less General Fund revenue. Building projects rely on Capital Outlay funds. As allowed, a district may utilize up to 45% of its available funds and transfer them to the General Fund. However, excessive fund transfers will cripple the District’s ability to maintain its current facilities -let alone explore additions. Regarding the General Fund, the District cannot choose to do nothing and use a Capital Outlay transfer to “solve” the issue. As enrollment numbers change, staffing numbers will follow -much like they have in the past. Next year, we project we will have roughly $5.5 million dollars in General Fund revenue and $1.8 million dollars in Capital Outlay dollars. This year, we generated roughly $6.0 million dollars in GF dollars. In addition to making general fund reductions, we will transfer additional capital outlay dollars to help address the shortfall. Continued large transfers from the Capital Outlay Fund to the General Fund are not feasible for the long-term viability of the District as one quickly relies on transferred dollars to balance the budget at the expense of capital improvement needs. The cash on hand that would be utilized for the bond project is Capital Outlay money, not General Fund dollars. We have the cash on hand due to purposeful spending within the Capital Outlay Fund -not from the General Fund. To learn more about the building project -go to buildingforberesford.com.