Tuesday, July 7, 2015

The Approved 2015-2016 TUSD Budget

Posted By on Tue, Jul 7, 2015 at 10:30 AM


I was out of town when the TUSD board passed the proposed 2015-2016 budget at its June 23 meeting. The vote was the usual 3-2 split. I didn't see it covered in the Star, though maybe it was there and I missed it. But covered in the Star or no, it hasn't been posted here, so I thought I'd give everyone a chance to look at the budget and comment, pro, con or somewhere in between.

The budget won't be adopted until the July 14 meeting, so it's not written in stone. The TUSD web page with a summary of the budget, which I put below, has links leading to more details and an email address where people can make comments or recommendations.

The summary shows that the budget has been increased for classroom and classroom-related spending and decreased for administrative costs. It also states that employees are getting across-the-board raises.
• The budget earmarks 50.8 percent of funds to be spent in classrooms or tied to classrooms as defined by the Auditor General.
• An additional 15.9 percent is earmarked for Student and Instructional Support.
• It cuts a total of 8percent from administration in the following areas:
• Executive administration, 9 percent
• Legal Services, 5 percent
• Human Resources, 6 percent
• Finance, 10 percent
• Operations, 8 percent
• Technology Services, 9 percent
• Leadership, 5 percent
• Student Services department, 7 percent 
• Curriculum and Instruction increased by 5 percent.
• The budget reduces the tax rate by an estimated 21 cents, saving taxpayers almost $5 million in 2016.
• It carries forward $14 million from the 2014-15 school year.
• The budget gives across-the-board pay raises to employees.
• The State required budget forms were created using the new ERP/Infinite Visions Accounting System.
As I've said before, I'm no expert on budgets. To my untrained eye, this looks pretty good, but I'm willing to stand corrected if I'm shown differently. The floor is open for comments.

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