Vestavia Hills school officials propose $109 million budget for fiscal 2024

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Vestavia Hills school officials on Monday presented a proposed $109 million budget for fiscal 2024, which is about a 6% increase from the 2023 budget approved a year ago.

Courtney Brown, chief financial officer for the school system, said Vestavia Hills schools are expecting to see an increase of about $2.4 million in local property and sales tax revenues in the 2024 fiscal year that begins Oct. 1 and an extra $900,000 from the state’s education foundation program.

Property tax collections for fiscal 2023 are about 3% more than was originally expected in the 2023 budget, so she is forecasting a 5% increase in property tax revenue for 2024 compared to the 2023 budget.

About 55% of the overall budget for the Vestavia Hills Board of Education comes from local tax revenues such as property taxes and a small amount of city sales taxes, Brown said. The system receives about 42% of revenues from the state, 2% from the federal government and 1% from other sources.

The school system plans to begin the fiscal year with $19.4 million in its overall fund balance and end the year with $18.4 million, Brown said. Technically, that’s spending about $1 million more than received in the fiscal year. However, Vestavia Hills schools received about $3.38 million in “advancement and technology funds” from the state in July but won’t spend those funds until fiscal 2024, Brown said. Without that expenditure, the system would have a $2.4 million surplus in overall operating funds in 2024, she said.

Superintendent Todd Freeman said the school system is trying to build up its reserve funds so that in the future it can take steps to address capital project needs that it can’t afford right now.

The proposed 2024 budget would give the school system about $10.9 million in its general fund at the end of the fiscal year, which is enough to cover 1.36 months’ worth of operating expenses, Brown said. The state requires at least one month’s worth of reserves.

The $109 million in overall projected expenditures includes $94.5 million in expenditures from the general fund, $9.5 million spent from the special revenue fund, $2.5 million from the capital projects fund and $2.25 million in expenses from non-public funds that includes concession sales, student organization fees, fundraisers and private donations.

About 74% of overall proposed expenditures would go toward instruction and instructional support, while 10% would go to operation and maintenance, 5% to debt service, 4% to transportation, 3% to general administration, 2% to capital projects and 2% to other expenditures.

About 82% of the $94.5 million general fund expenditures would go toward personnel, while 9% would go toward professional services and utilities, 4% to materials and supplies, 4% to debt service and 1% to other expenditures.

School officials propose to pay $76 million from the general fund to cover salaries and benefits. In all, the school system employs 923 people, including 525 teachers, 310 non-certified support staff, 32 certified support staff, 22 administrators, 21 counselors, 12 librarians and one career tech director.

Of the 525 teachers, 404 are funded by the state, while 109 are funded with about $8 million in local tax dollars, Brown said.

Freeman said the proposed 2024 budget decreases pay for certified staff by about $1 million in an effort to help build reserves. However, school officials still are trying to keep class sizes well below average at the elementary level, he said. Also, Vestavia Hills puts about $10 million in local revenues for special education services to supplement what the federal government provides, Brown said.

The Vestavia school system also provides a significant portion of the funding for its 16 school nurses and pays for nine of its 13 school resource officers (the other four are funded by the city government), six more counselors than the state funds and a social worker, Freeman said.

“A lot of things are still in place to make sure we prioritize what really makes our system special,” he said.

The proposed 2024 budget includes almost $11 million worth of capital projects, including $6.75 million for energy management facility improvements, such as internal and external LED lighting at all school facilities, new controls on mechanical systems and additional insulated space, Freeman said.

The school district doesn’t actually have the money for those energy management facility improvements right now but is applying for a grant from the lieutenant governor’s office that could provide up to $5 million, Freeman said. If the system is able make these improvements, it anticipates several hundred thousand dollars’ worth of cost savings, he said.

The proposed 2024 capital projects budget also includes $1.9 million for debt payments, $838,000 for safety and security improvements, $800,000 for Chromebook replacements, $125,000 to replace a bus, $150,000 to improve accessibility at Vestavia Hills Elementary-Dolly Ridge, $100,000 to add more showers for the girls locker rooms at Vestavia Hills High School, $100,000 for theater improvements at the high school, $100,000 for heating, ventilation and air conditioning improvements, $50,000 for painting, $25,000 for classroom furniture and $25,000 for adaptive playground equipment.

A proposed five-year capital plan includes $35 million for more energy management facility improvements in fiscal 2025, including replacement of roofs and heating and air conditioning systems, and $25.3 million between fiscal 2025 and fiscal 2028 for other projects that were in the 1Rebel 1Future plan, Freeman said. Money for those energy management projects and 1Rebel 1Future projects also has not been identified yet, but Freeman said he wants to keep them in the plan.

“It’s no different than it was before May 9 [when Vestavia Hills voters turned down a property tax increase for schools],” Freeman said. “We still need to replace those things. We just don’t have the money to do it right this moment.”

Freeman said as the school system builds its reserves, school officials can discuss the best time to possibly borrow money to take care of some of these needs.

Also, school board President Jaclyn Hudson said school officials in the next couple of months plan to announce some new opportunities for the community to give directly to whatever school system projects they are most passionate about.

“We’re going to take care of all the maintenance — the stuff that’s not as fun, and we know everybody else wants to have a part of something bigger and better,” Hudson said. “We’re going to give them a great opportunity to do that. We’re just getting everything worked out before we present it. We know there are a lot of faithful, passionate, loyal Rebels that want to give to our school system in a certain capacity. You’re going to have an opportunity to do it. We’re super excited about it. Be on the lookout. That’ll be coming soon.”

School officials plan to have another public hearing on the 2024 budget on Sept. 11 at noon at the central office and are taking public comment on it. Click here to see the entire budget slideshow with a lot more detail. Also, Brown’s complete presentation Monday night can be viewed here.