Budgeting talks for the 2019 fiscal year are underway early at the Washoe County School District, although district officials warn that many numbers now are tentative.
At the request of trustees, district chief financial officer Tom Ciesynski said his staff is starting to brief the board on the budget about five months sooner than usual. The fiscal year starts July 2018.
The district faces a potential budget deficit of $22 million to $28 million for 2018-19. Major causes for the deficit are related to use of fund balance/savings to develop the prior year budget (-$16 million), along with base funding increases being less than ongoing salary and benefit costs (-$9.7 million).
Budget director Mike Schroeder described the situation as a “structural deficit.”
“Our ongoing revenues are not meeting our ongoing expenditures,” Schroeder told trustees Tuesday.
Other factors include increased costs for textbooks, loss of some grant funding, property insurance rates rising, restoration of other post-employment benefits, and possible increases for revenues and opening fund balances yet to be determined.
However, district staff noted that many unknown factors have yet to be resolved. Examples are as follows:
- 2016-17 year-end closing and financial audit still being in progress along with identification of savings from that year
- Impact of actual 2017-18 enrollment to be determined for funding and staffing allocation purposes
- Changeover of district employees from 2016-17 to 2017-18
- Actual 2017-18 funding for other state programs still to be determined
- 2018-19 ad valorem tax projections, along with other revenue and expenditure projections
“We could have savings or we could have more cost,” Schroeder said. “Every time you use savings, you have to make it up the next year.”
Decisions on the budget are made based on data and what has brought in the best results for students academically, Schroeder said.
Trustees filled the approximately $40 million shortfall for the 2017-18 school year by cutting $30 million from central services and by saving $10 million by increasing class sizes to about 28 students in fourth through eighth grades and to an average of 29 students per class in high school.
Central service reductions and savings were accomplished by freezing 40 vacant or soon-to-be-vacant administrative positions, including additional teacher on special assignment positions; postponing the purchase of some new school buses, along with fuel, utility and other savings.
