Colfax school board reviews proposed $9.5 million budget for 2020-2021
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By LeAnn R. Ralph
COLFAX — The Colfax Board of Education has reviewed a proposed budget of $9.5 million for the 2020-2021 school year.
Considering the COVID-19 pandemic and the expectation that the state’s revenue will be negatively impacted by the pandemic, “the key word is proposed,” said William C. Yingst Jr., school district administrator, at the school board’s budget review meeting July 13.
The proposed budget is based on the speculation the school district will receive the estimated amount of state aid, but the state aid is not guaranteed, he said.
The estimate of general state aid for 2020-2021 is $5,626,020.
“We think we’re in the ballpark, but we will not know until the end of October when we set the tax levy,” Yingst said.
School districts are notified in mid-October of the exact amount of state aid they will be receiving for the school year.
This year is the second year of the state’s biennial budget, so generally speaking, since the state budget has already been set, it is somewhat easier to estimate the state aid for budget purposes, Yingst said.
Next year, when the state starts the next two-year budget cycle, it will be much more difficult to estimate state aid for the school year, he noted.
The state will be losing a certain amount of sales tax revenue because of businesses being closed during the pandemic, so there is no way of knowing how that will affect the school districts, Yingst said.
The Colfax school district also will have to include personal protective equipment (PPE) for school staff, employees and students and also will have to invest in more technology to make distance learning a better experience, he said.
Here are the numbers for the proposed revenue budget for the 2020-2021 school year:
• Fund 10 (general fund) — $9,472,204.24.
• Fund 21 (donations) — $5,000.
• Fund 27 (special education) — $1,215,784.
• Fund 38 (debt service) — $263,230.
• Fund 39 (debt service) — $376,237.
• Fund 46 (capital projects) — $2,500.
• Fund 49 (referendum projects) — 0.
• Fund 50 (food service) — $404,000.
Here are the numbers for the proposed expenditures of $9,452,302 for the 2020-2021 school year:
• Salaries — $4,627,691.
• Benefits — $1,699,462.
• Purchased services — $1,652,295.
• Non-capital — $343,820.
• Capital equipment — $185,632.
• Insurance and judgements — $159,196.
• Interfund transfers — $730,704.
• Other objects — $53,500.