SVE approves deficit budget

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SPRING VALLEY — The Spring Valley Elementary School Board approved a deficit budget at its meeting Sept. 24.

Superintendent Dan Marenda presented the budget, which shows a total beginning balance of $2.5 million in all funds. It projects revenues of $5,624,900 and expenditures of $5,789.217, or a deficit of $164,317. If the budget proves accurate, it would result in an ending balance of $2,369,172 on June 30, 2009.

The largest deficit is projected for the education fund, at $105,270. Additional deficits are projected for the operations and maintenance fund, at $56,247; bond and interest at $44,623; transportation at $21,426, and IMRF at $8,376.

Positive balances are projected for the working cash, tort and HLS funds.

Marenda said the deficit in the education fund is due to some one-time extraordinary expenses, but he did express his concerns about the operations and maintenance fund. He said this fund also ended the year with a deficit last year, unlike the education fund, which has shown small surpluses each of the last two years. Marenda said the district will continue to monitor this fund to see what can be done to reduce the expenses or find other revenue sources.

Marenda also told the board the deficits in the all IMRF and the debt services funds were “planned” deficits. The funds had balances, and the money was restricted to use for certain specific areas so the levy is less than needed for the expenses in those funds in order to spend down the accumulated balances. He said this is a savings to the taxpayers that does not impact the operating funds.

Overall, Marenda said he was pleased with the direction the budget has taken over the last couple of years and credited it to good financial stewardship of the board, responsible short-term borrowing and increases in the state aid. He also said this year’s budget is probably better than it appears.

“This is a conservative budget that has some one time extraordinary expenses in the ed fund,” Marenda said. “I hope to do better than the budget shows.”

Last year’s budget projected the district ending the year with a balance of $1.9 million, $600,000 less than the actual ending balance.

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