Petoskey school board approves 2023-24 budget, projects
PETOSKEY — The Public Schools of Petoskey Board of Education approved the proposed 2023-24 budget during its June 15 meeting.
At the start of the meeting, the district's director of finance Bill Melching went through the proposed budget, which is based on an expected enrollment decrease of around 35 students and an expected foundation allowance increase of $500 per student. Some budget items are still dependent on legislation and discussion items at the statewide level, Melching explained.
Melching said he did his best to make the budget as accurate as possible. He cannot speak to some specific line items of the previous year because he had not built the previous budget, but did mention COVID-19 relief dollars did help add funding to the general fund balance because federal dollars could be used to help pay for things that would traditionally be paid for out of the general operations fund.
The proposed initial budget for the general fund — which includes expenditures like transportation, instructional programming and administration costs — includes projected revenues of $35,741,187 and expenditures totaling $35,942,615, resulting in a $201,428 operating shortfall.
The school board also approved the food service fund’s initial budget, with an expected revenue stream of $1,079,255 and expenditures expected to be $1,101,334. This results in a shortfall of $22,079. At the end of the 2023-24 fiscal year on June 30, 2024, the budget is expected to have a balance of $605,850.
The proposed sinking fund budget projects revenue totals at $2,707,000 and expenditures at $2,688,226, resulting in a surplus of $18,774. The sinking fund is funded by millages approved by voters to pay for projects as they arise. The sinking fund will be helping pay for a series of projects, all of which were approved by the school board during the June 15 meeting.
Melching explained that the fund will carry a balance of $2,453,541 and the reasoning behind carrying a fund balance is because it allows you to start projects over the summer. He said that because the district gets a 50 percent tax levy in the summer and 50 percent in the winter, carrying a balance lets you have money to start projects before the money comes in in July.
“Keeping a fund balance that size lets you do projects through the summer, then collect the money that year, and then have that money to start projects in the next year,” Melching said. “If you didn't do it that way, you'd have to wait until July to start projects because you wouldn't have any revenue coming in until July, and then the projects probably aren't done with the start of school.”
The board approved roofing projects for the high school auxiliary gym and auditorium area; the east classroom wing at Sheridan Elementary; and the gym, east classroom area and media center at Ottawa Elementary. The board also approved sinking fund use for electrical upgrades at the high school gym, middle school gym, Ottawa gym and Sheridan gym.
The sinking fund will also be used to help fund carpet replacement projects at Lincoln and Sheridan elementary schools; tuck pointing at Sheridan and Central elementary schools, as well as the middle school; renovations to the softball field dugout; lockers at Lincoln Elementary; and gym floor refinishing at Central Elementary, the high school auxiliary gym and the middle school.
“I’m just thankful to the community that we have the ability to keep all of our stuff in great condition,” school board president Mark Ashley said.
The final fund presented for the 2023-24 school year was the student activity fund, which was approved with expected revenues sitting at $950,000 and expenditures sitting at $925,000, meaning there is an expected surplus of $25,000. The budget expects a fund balance of $1,049,624.
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The school board also had to approve the 2022-23 general fund final budget. The final budget projects an operating surplus of $1,906,273, resulting from an increase in projected revenues of $1,843,693 and a decrease in projected expenditure of $1,106,949.
“I know people will ask, ‘Well, how can we have a budget that originally projected a deficit of $1,044,000 and now you're projecting $1,900,000 surplus?’ Hard for me to answer because I didn't do the original budget, but I can tell you we will be closer than that on our original initial budget you're projecting this year,” Melching said. "Unless there's some big changes we don't know are coming, we’ll be a lot closer than that.”
— Contact reporter Karly Graham at kgraham@petoskeynews.com. Follow her on Twitter at @KarlyGrahamJRN.
This article originally appeared on The Petoskey News-Review: Petoskey school board approves 2023-24 budget, projects
