PRC School District releases proposed budget
Last week, the Pearl River County School Board was presented the proposed budget for the 2018-2019 fiscal year which they will most likely approve as is during their scheduled July 16th meeting.
The budget, as presented by the district’s Business Administrator T.J. Burleson, shows revenues estimated to be $22,232,305.00 with expenditures expected to be $22,287,305.00, which would require the district to use $55,000.00 from the unreserved fund which is $200,000.00. Burleson’s estimate is the district will receive approximately $1.2 million dollars from the sale of the bonds from the newly passed referendum. This along with $5.62 million dollars for Operations will put the estimated total at $6.85 million.
The estimated beginning fund balance will be $4,100,000.00 which is derived from a board policy of 20 percent on hand of $3,900.000.00 and the unreserved balance of $200,000.00.
Burleson said the school district added 42 students during the just completed school year which put the total number of students in the school district at 3,245 students. Based on the current formula in place with the Mississippi Adequate Education Program, Burleson estimates MAEP funding for the district to be around $16,988,900.00, which is a $700,000.000 drop from last year. Burleson said the decrease is due to absenteeism the district encountered because of illnesses, especially flu, during the school year. Daily average attendance is a major portion of the current MAEP formula.
Board members (L-R) Jeff Jones, Elaine Voss, Natalie Glorioso, and Jeremy Weir listen as Burleson presents proposed budget.
The millage rate is estimated to increase from around 55 mills to between 62 to 63 mills due to the new taxes in relation to the bond issue referendum according to Burleson.
Looking to the future, Burleson was asked what impact the new buildings, once built and in use, would be to the facilities maintenance numbers as compared to what they are today in the budget. Burleson said he expects the number to increase about 10% or $200,000.00 per year. Burleson said while there will be more square footage, the newer systems like air conditioning will be more efficient.
Below are three slides from Burleson's presentation that show sources of revenue and expenditure estimates.
