I have attached the 2017-18 Budget Vs Actual and Comparisons to 16-17 for February (pages 1-2). Also attached are the February Budget Status Reports for all funds (pages 3-8). In addition to the monthly reports, I have included Projected Revenues/Expenditures and Ending Fund Balance (page 9-10) and the March Enrollment Spreadsheets (pages 11-13)
Budget vs Actual Comparisons for February
Monthly Revenues
Revenues in February were $286,000 greater than expected (page 3). The transportation allocation was also updated to actual this month. Payments for the months of September through January were based upon total allocation of $3,600,000. The actual allocation is $4,200,000 increasing our allocation for the month of February from $324,000 to $627,000. This accounts for the large difference between actual and expected.
Monthly Payroll
February payroll was approximately $71,000 greater than budgeted. Payroll is running between $65,000 and $90,000 more than expected. I have looked at salaries and benefits from all sides and have not come up with one particular reason why each month is running considerably higher than expected. We did issue a settlement for a total of $12,500 this month, which increased this number. I have also come up with a few smaller items (as documented in previous months) and was feeling nervous about it until I updated the projected revenues and expenditures and found that there are many areas that are over budget and many that are under. I am confident that payroll expenditures are as expected (even though they do not match up with the spreadsheet). I will continue to review each month.
Monthly Accounts Payable
February accounts payable was approximately $135,000 greater than expected (page 3). We have 4 special education students that are attending Quest Academy and 5 students at Fir Grove and one student at Serendipity, all of which are very expensive programs. We have not had this many students served out of district in the past. I have reviewed all expenditures and find them to be necessary for the operations of the district.
Projected Sources, Uses, and Ending Fund Balance
The spreadsheet includes projections for all 17-18 funding categories and all 17-18 expenditure categories (pages 9-10). This spreadsheet also identifies where we are spending our levy and miscellaneous revenues. Per the spreadsheet, the district is projected to decrease fund balance by approximately $19,000. This does not include any increase for KWRL salaries and benefits, which may increase as a result of bargaining. Big differences between budgeted and actual revenues are in apportionment, which is approximately $260,000 greater than budget (due to being about 50 kids greater than budget) and transportation (which is about $200,000 greater than budget). As far as expenditures go, we are projected to spend about $250,000 more in Basic Education teaching (cert salaries, classified salaries, and benefits). I have also overestimated expenditures for utilities and maintenance and increased the summer maintenance capital expenditures by about $50,000 to complete some much overdue projects.
Special Education enrollment is less than budgeted, but we have a large number of medium cost kids that don’t qualify for safety net, resulting in an increase to the levy dollars required to fund special education from $600,000 to projected at $760,000.
I will be keeping a close watch on revenues, expenditures, and departmental budgets in the coming months and will update the board on this again next month and future months as necessary.
Enrollment
The enrollment spreadsheets are also attached (pages 11-13), with summaries by headcount for September through March and a comparison of budgeted FTE to actual average FTE. Enrollment increased by 3 students and almost 7 FTE. This is good news after the February drop of almost 12 FTE. I hope to finish out the year with an average that is about 50 greater than budget. I will continue to keep you apprised each month and will let you know how this affects the district projections again in April.
Please let me know if you have any questions.