At their meeting Monday, Mancos School Board members passed what Superintendent Brian Hanson called a “balanced budget.”
The board approved the $6.69 million budget for the 2016-2017 fiscal year with a 4-0 vote at the meeting. Board member Monty Guiles was absent.
Though administrators at first anticipated some deficit spending, Hanson said they were able to balance it.
“We’re presenting to you a balanced budget,” he told the board.
Those deficit spending items included architect and grant-writing fees, but they were covered in the budget, District Business Manager Chrissie Miller said.
Though the district has about 10 more students than last year, the budget is down about $17,000 from 2015-2016, according to Colorado Department of Education documents. Revenue from local, state and federal sources is down about $72,000, to about $5 million in 2017.
District expenditures also are down about $20,000 from last year, to $5.05 million in 2016-2017.
The district’s ending reserve balance is projected to be about $1.037 million. However, the district plans a $228,000 purchase of a property just north of the Performing Arts Center. The parcel will be converted to more parking, which is part of the master plan for renovations to the school campus.
That expense will come out of the district’s reserve, lowering that amount to about $800,000. Even though that amount would still be enough to cover at least three months of district operating expenses, Hanson said having just $800,000 in the bank made him uneasy. He said district staff has been instructed to spend less, and the board should discuss funding at a future meeting.
Also Monday, the board vetoed two policy requests that would have provided a buyback of certain unused benefits for three district employees who are retiring. The policies would have given $55,000 back to the employees, but that would have been a deficit-spending item for the district. Hanson said he was torn because he wanted to provide for the employees, but also wanted to be fiscally responsible for the district.
Also at the meeting, board members approved hiring Rachel Shockley as a high school English and electives teacher for the second semester, Jason Silva as assistant high school wrestling coach and James Lewis as middle school boys basketball B-team coach.
