The Wright City R-II School District presented its final budget for fiscal year 2016 during the monthly board meeting June 30.Director of Finance Konee Box said he was pleased to report a positive finish to the year, thanks in part to an unexpected boost from the Mega Jackpot lottery.The increase in lottery revenue was approximately $71,740.“The numbers ended up being better than we expected, mostly because of that one-time state revenue due to the lottery,” said Box. “It could happen again, but we don’t want to count on that consistently.”R-II ended fiscal year 2016 with an estimated ending balance of $17,252,716.50.The total revenues for fiscal year 2016 were $35,913,578.26 versus estimated total expenses of $25,863,981.46, resulting in a difference of $10,049,596.80.That differential combined with a carry over of $7,203,119.70 from the fiscal year 2015 resulted in the final balance.“We ended the year in good standing,” said Box. “We were very diligent about saving taxpayers money. If we didn’t need it, we didn’t buy it.”The primary area where the district saw an increase in expenses was in special education, as the Early Childhood Education Center was constructed as a means to address the growing number of special needs students.“Those numbers have risen as we see an influx of higher needs children in our district,” said Box.She explained the significant differential in the ending balance for Fund 3, the debt service fund.“That was mostly due to the refinancing of a $9,000,000 bond,” said Box.“The district had to purchase the new bond at the time of refunding, but it won’t have to pay off the old bond until its callable date of March 2017. This was an advanced refunding.”School budget