BOE budget projects another year of surplus

The Vestavia Hills Board of Education is expecting to remain in comfortable financial position going into the 2018 fiscal year.

After holding two public work sessions on the budget, the first on Aug. 23 and the second on Aug. 30, and opening for public comment, the board had no further questions for finance director Greg Maner, and approved the budget Sept. 6.

At previous meetings, Maner went through the budget in detail, highlighting the various revenue streams and how the 2018 budget would draw from each.

The 2018 general fund budget expects total revenues of $70,454,109 and total expenditures of $69,434,285, just over $1 million more than last year.

Major changes resulting in the increase include adding new faculty positions, many of them locally funded, an issue Maner said is relatively unique to Vestavia, as well as $95,056 in step raises for employees. 

But Maner explained that the increases in costs were largely offset by a continued trend in rising ad valorem revenue, with the 2017 fiscal year coming to a close with nearly $1 million more taken in than planned.

“And if everything works like we hope it will,” Maner said, the BOE should be able to add just over $1 million to its reserves at the end of the year.

“We’re in a good place right now,” Maner said Aug. 23.

In breaking down the expenditures, Maner pointed out that the overwhelming majority of the schools funds — 82 percent, or almost $57.8 million —goes to instructional services and instructional support services.

“And since we are a school system, that’s where most of our money should be spent, on instruction of children,” he said Aug. 30.

The next largest categories are operations and maintenance and administrative services, coming in at $6.48 million and $4.29 million, respectively.

Because of the ongoing major construction projects, the BOE’s capital outlay funding was of special interest again this year, Maner said.

The outlay budget includes the bond issue taken out last year.

Maner said that the estimated capital outlay expenditures for the year are about $38.8 million, covering the major facilities decisions made over the last year, and which would leave a balance of about $6.6 million.

Maner also pointed out that dedicating the funds for 2018 satisfies the IRS requirement that bond funds be dedicated or spent in the first three years.

Overall Maner said the budget was sound and fairly standard and that, as always, he and his team project conservatively to account for any unexpected expenses that will undoubtedly come up.

The full budget presentation and videos of the public hearings are available on the BOE website at vestavia.k12.al.us.