The Troy School District 30C Board of Education recently reviewed its tentative budget for fiscal year 2018.
The budget was put on display at the district office for members of the community to review.
Elaine Colombo, the district’s executive director of finance and operations, said a lot of planning and coordination between she and others goes into putting together a budget.
“I start in the spring meeting with department heads to see what projects they have in mind,” she said of the budget planning process. “We figure out what our revenue is, and we work through the process.”
For fiscal year 2018, the revenues and expenditures that make up the district’s total operating budget are $48,511,379 and $48,209,997, respectively.
Colombo said as far as she can recall, the district has a strong history of presenting a balance budget.
Salaries and benefits make up some of the largest expenditures in the district’s budget, as well as purchase services to obtain supplies.
The district typically aligns the annual budget to meet its strategic plan.
“Because we are a school district—and that’s what we’re here for—we are here to support the classrooms,” Colombo said. “We want to see the bulk of the money go toward instruction purposes.”
Colombo said the district maintains good footing as the school board looks to consider adopting its fiscal year 2018 budget.
“[State] funding was up in the air, so I kept categorical payments flat with what we received last year,” she said. “With the state budget passed, it might change.”
The district has no outstanding payables to date.
Officials have bond payments they need to account for to pay for building projects completed in past years.
Colombo said issuing new debt is an idea “that’s not been decided yet.”
The district has $150,000 budgeted for in its contingency to date.
“It’s spread out just to account for unexpected expenditures,” Colombo said.
The Troy School District 30C Board of Education invites the community to provide feedback on its fiscal year 2018 budget during a Sept. 20 public hearing at 6:50 p.m.
Officials will hold their next regularly scheduled meeting at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 20, at the Don Bacon Administration Center in Plainfield.