The District 90 school board adopted a balanced budget last month for fiscal year 2013.
Anthony Cozzi, director of finance and facilities for D90, said the budget for this school year — July 1, 2012 through June 30, 2013 — does not require a deficit reduction plan because the State Board of Education has determined it to be balanced. The board came to that conclusion after looking at the operating funds — education, operations and maintenance, transportation and working cash.
Cozzi said the expenditures and revenues for all funds total about $24.3 million and $23.3, respectively. But since the district had a fund balance of about $25.5 million as of July 1, $1 million of the reserves can be used to cover that gap.
The fund with the largest expenditures was education at $16.7 million. Of that, $11.4 million will go to salaries and $2.8 million will go to benefits. Cozzi said the level of that fund is about 2.6 percent more than the previous school year, counting interfund transfers.
As in previous years, the district is heavily reliant on property taxes. They make up about 88 percent of the revenue this fiscal year.
What is unique to this budget, Cozzi said, is the creation of a capital projects fund. About $2.4 million was transferred from operations and maintenance to this fund, which was required to be established because of the size and scope of the construction project at Roosevelt Middle School over the summer. The fire prevention and safety fund is starting to wind down, Cozzi said, after life safety projects were completed at each school the past three summers. The state had to approve the life safety projects at Lincoln, Willard and Roosevelt, which included adding fire extinguishers and fire doors, a new brick façade and replacement of floor tiles.
