School District Financial Picture Improved

Tuesday, July 16, 2013

BENTONVILLE — The School District finished the fiscal year in a far better financial position than was projected only a month ago.

The district finished the fiscal year June 30 with a fund balance of $24.8 million, according to Sterling Ming, the director of finance. In a memo to the School Board dated June 6, Ming wrote the district likely would end the fiscal year with a fund balance of $20.1 million.

At A Glance

Voter Registration

The last date to register to vote for the Bentonville School District millage election is Aug. 19. District supporters have pushed to register more parents to vote this year. Only 38 percent of parents were registered to vote for the last millage election in June 2012. Michael Poore, district superintendent, said Monday about 500 more parents have registered to vote since then.

Anyone needing to register to vote can stop by the Benton County Clerk’s Office on the second floor of the County Administration Building, 215 E. Central Ave., in Bentonville. Some form of identification is necessary to register.

Source: Staff Report

The district’s fund balance is still about $2 million lower than it was a year ago at this time. That’s mainly because of the board’s decision to spend $2.4 million from reserve to buy a building for Bentonville High School’s alternative learning program, Ming said.

“We did receive some more growth money than projected and a little more property tax,” Ming told the board at its meeting Monday. “Some of the expenses were significantly less than we were projecting.”

Growth money refers to dollars collected from the state based on enrollment increases throughout the school year. The district collected about $2.9 million in student growth revenue compared to a projection of about $1.7 million.

District policy states that the fund balance be no less than 17 percent of the district’s operating budget. At $24.8 million, the district’s fund balance is about 19 percent of its operating budget.

Preliminary projections for the 2013-14 school year show the district’s expenditures exceeding revenue by about $3.1 million. Ming said he is starting the process this week of whittling that difference down. The board will vote on a budget in September.

Also at Monday’s meeting, the board reviewed a PowerPoint presentation designed for board members to use when presenting information to the public about the Sept. 17 millage election. The presentation was put together by the DLR Group with input from district staff members.

The board is proposing a 2.9-mill tax increase to build a second high school on Gamble Road in Centerton with a capacity of 2,250 students. Michael Poore, district superintendent, said the district’s growth rate is an important point for board members to explain to the public.

“A decade ago we had 8,300 students,” Poore said. “Our count last year was 14,800. We had 5.9 percent growth in the district last year. More people are choosing Bentonville as their community to live in.”

Bentonville High School is expecting about 4,200 students starting this fall, several hundred more than its ideal capacity. By the 2015-16 school year, Bentonville High likely will be about 128 percent over capacity, Poore said.

The PowerPoint presentation also touches upon possible consequences if this year’s millage doesn’t pass, including the introduction of split scheduling.

No campaign committee has been formed yet. Poore said he’d like to see that happen “as soon as possible.”

Meanwhile, the district plans to send out a survey to its staff members starting next week to determine what their understanding is of the millage proposal and “see if there’s any misinformation they may have,” Poore said.