By Myrna Trauntvein
TN Correspondent
Juab School District budget hearing was held at the beginning of school board meeting on Wednesday, June 16th. The 2022 Proposed Budget, the 2021 Final Budget and the 2020 Actual Results were presented by Darin Clark, CPA (Certified Public Accountant) and district business administrator. After the hearing closed and later in the meeting, Tracy Olsen, board vice president, made the motion to approve the final budget for 2021, the actual results for 2020 and the 2022 budget. Cassie Butler made the second and all board members voted in favor. Clark presented a power point to help the public understand the budget for the school district. “By law, we have to adopt the budget by June,” said Clark. “We have advertised the budget hearing two times and it is also on the school website so that it can be reviewed by patrons,” said Clark. “The best way of looking at a budget is to think of money in a cookie jar,” he said. “In simple language the cookie jar method involves cash-based accounting and aims at monitoring spending.” The way cookie jar works is that each category gets so much cash in an envelope and the expenditure is marked the moment the expense is made. As long as the jar has cash, it can be spent. The moment money is exhausted all discretionary expenditure is stopped until the jar is re-filled with cash. The district budget is fund-based so there are different budget categories. “As we talk about the revised general fund budget we need to know that it increased $3.32 million over the original budget,” said Clark. “The original budget was based on a 10 percent cut as indicated by the legislature as the pandemic started.” The cut did not happen, he said. Also, ESSR I, II and III (Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund) as well as state COVID funds were approved. “The teacher legislative stipend was approved, and the ASU (Arizona State University) Preparation Academy was bigger than expected at $1.6 million in enrollment and credits,” he said. He said that the general fund state revenue was increasing by 5.9 percent in the WPU (Weighted Pupil Unit) and that the district was continuing to grow although there was uncertainty about post-COVID enrollment. Most of the general fund money comes from the state at 71.56 percent, local funds adding 23.8 percent and federal funds at 4.7 percent. Property tax history for the basic state (M&O) in FY 2020 was .001660, in FY 2021 was .001628 and in preliminary for FY 2022, was .001628 (still to be determined). “We don’t have the basic levy yet,” said Clark. “We wanted to keep it at the same level and the last four years the amount collected has increased so, by definition, that would be considered a tax increase. So next month we will need to hold a public hearing.” The voted leeway (M&O) for 2020 was .000380, for 2021 was 000338, for 2022 (preliminary) is expected at .000338; the board local levy for 2020 was .002350, for 2021 was .0023300, for 2022 is expected as .002325; the charter school levy for 2020 was .000027, for 2021 was .000017, for 2022 is expected at .000022; capital outlay for 2020 was .002377, for 2021 was 001915; for 2022 is expected at .001915; debt service for 2020 was .001769, for 2021 is expected to be .001400. The total would be .008564 for 2020, .007628 for 2021 and is expected at .007628. In 2019 the Juab School District (JSD) assessed valuation was $954,079,967, in 2020 it was $1,025,323,535 and $1,274,911,838, and in 2021 was $1,300,678,057. The general fund expenditures of 2022 are 62.71 percent, student and instruction support 15.08 percent, transportation 3.85 percent, general administration 3.96 percent, school administration 5.83 percent, maintenance 6.85 percent, central 1.52 percent and community services 0.19 percent. “Personnel costs account for about 88 percent of general fund expenditures,” said Clark. “JSD has approximately 425 employees and most are paid from the general fund.” The 425 employees include 191.75 full-time equivalents (FTEs) that are “contract” employees and of the 191.75 FTEs, 130.25 are teachers, 49.5 are classified employees and 12 are school or district employees. “The 2021-2022 budget includes: funding of step and lane increases, professional staff salary increase of 3 percent on base plus $1,200, classified staff wage increase, changes in staffing (to be determined) and no increase in health insurance costs,” he said. The school activity fund accounts for individual school revenue and expenses and the budget totals $1.3 million for all schools. Juab High School accounts for just over half of the total. “The Non K-12 Programs have a budget of $692,000 that includes athletics and other extra-curricular activities, pre-school and adult education,” he said. There is $1.99 million budgeted to pay bond principal and interest plus miscellaneous fees related to bond compliance and reporting and $125,000 budgeted for technology. “The 2021-2022 budget includes the following: $1.5 million for the Hive and other construction/renovation projects, $160,000 for a bus purchase, $815,000 for debt service payments on outstanding revenue bonds, $600,000 in equipment, supplies and instructional technology,” said Clark. “The school lunch program is extremely efficient,” he said. “Our fund balance was too big so we will buy some equipment.” The school food services has $1.36 million budgeted to run the school lunch program. Revenues are 54 percent Federal National School Lunch Program, 29 percent from student and other sales and 17 percent from the state program which comes for liquor tax. “Expenditures are 60 percent food and related purchases, 38 percent personnel and 2 percent equipment and indirect costs or overhead,” said Clark.
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