The district is projected to have a surplus in all three of the operations, debt service and capital project funds for the first time since fiscal year 2017.
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With the fiscal year 2024 budget, the Warren County R-III School District is “living within their means,” according to R-III Superintendent Dr. Gregg Klinginsmith.
The Warren County R-III Board of Education voted 7-0 last month to approve the fiscal year 2024 budget.
“I like seeing a balanced budget,” Board Treasurer Jeff Schneider said. “It’s the first time in a while.”
Excluding years the district received federal stimulus funds, the district is projected to have a surplus in all three of the operations, debt service and capital project funds for the first time since fiscal year 2017.
The budget includes surpluses of $177,127 in the operational fund, $371,500 in the debt service fund and $6,118 in the capital projects fund.
“We’re basically living with what we have,” Klinginsmith said. “So we’re living within our means, which is good news. I’m happy for that. I wish we didn’t have to suppress salaries as much as we’ve had for so many years to get where we are. But now we’re on solid footing and we can move forward. So that’s good.”
For the first time in over a decade, district staff will be on the correct step on the years of experience scale. The increase to the correct step leads to an average of a 3.82 percent increase in district staff salaries.
The fiscal year 2024 budget allocates over $345,000 to finish HVAC at Daniel Boone, which is an Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund III project. The budget also allocates over $580,000 to purchase new buses, $350,000 for increased expenses related to the bond issue and over $295,000 for high school roofing.
The district will take the over $1.2 million allocation in the classroom trust fund and put it in the capital projects fund. The allocation is usually split between the debt service and capital projects fund, but with the district’s plans to pursue a no tax increase bond issue for a new elementary school, the district is allocating the funds to the capital projects fund.
“We’ve moving all the operations money to capital projects, just so we have plenty of money to work with whatever we need bond issue-wise,” Klinginsmith said.
The budget projects the district will have a 37 percent fund balance at the end of the fiscal year 2024 budget.
