Even with operating expenditures projected to increase by 54 percent over the next five years, Riverside’s elementary school chief said that District 96 is in strong financial shape and would not need to approach voters for a tax increase for a decade or more.
According to financial projections presented at the board’s Finance Committee meeting on April 15, the successful tax referendum of 2004 has set the stage for District 96 to accumulate $13.65 million in its operating reserves by the 2012-13 school year.
After 2012, that reserve will be chipped away as annual expenses overtake annual property tax revenues, which account for 90 percent of District 96’s total cash intake.
“If we’re able to accomplish these projections, voters really will not hear from District 96 for a decade-plus,” said Superintendent Jonathan Lamberson.
While the district’s financial health appears sound, the projections shed light on just how quickly and how greatly the cost of public education has grown. In the 10 year period between 2003-04 and 2012-13 the district projects expenditures in its major operating funds to increase by 108 percent, from just over $11 million to $23 million.
That increase, however, is offset by a property tax base that is expected to grow 141 percent over the same time period. In 2003-04, District 96 took in just under $8.5 million in property taxes. In 2012-13, it projects tax revenues of just under $20.4 million.
That property tax revenue is needed to keep up with projected skyrocketing costs for employee salaries and benefits, purchased services, capital outlay and costs related to providing special education services.
In 2007-08, District 96 budgeted $9.46 million for salaries and $2.24 million for benefits. By 2012-13, the district projects salary costs to rise 36 percent to $12.9 million and benefits payments to jump 91 percent to $4.3 million.
In addition, the district is ramping up projections related to purchased services. Those services, Lamberson said, will be related to building and maintenance projects, including $2.4 million in life safety upgrades it must make. Another $10 to $11 million in additional work (tuckpointing, roof replacement, etc.) has not been factored into the financial projections yet.
In 2012-13, the district projects spending $2.2 million for purchased services. The district spent $910,500 in 2003-04 and budgeted for $1.56 million in 2007-08.
Capital outlay is projected to rise sharply next year. In 2007-08, the district budgeted spending $204,300 for capital outlay, which pays for such things as technology and computer equipment. In 2008-09, District 96 projects spending $1 million in capital outlay, a year-over-year increase of 389 percent.
Sixty percent of the district’s computers are 6 years old or older, Lamberson said, and will need to be replaced.
Costs related to special education services have exploded since 2003-04, when District 96 spent $183,200 for special education tuition. If the district does not have the facilities or ability to provide the services, it must pay another public or private institution to provide those services.
In 2007-08, District 95 budgeted $581,000 in special education tuition payments. By 2012-13, district projections indicate that the district will spend $1.4 million. In the 10-year period from 2003-04 to 2012-13, District 96’s special education tuition costs are projected to have increased by 689 percent.
That number is softened somewhat by the fact that the district also collects grant revenue that offsets some of the cost. In 2006-07, according to a summary provided by Special Education Director Mary Polk, grant funds paid for about half the total cost to the district for special education tuition.
“There’s been a huge increase in special education services, which has mirrored our huge increase in enrollment,” Lamberson said, noting that District 96’s student population has grown by nearly 30 percent since 2001.
“The level of requirements on the district has dramatically increased,” he said.