The Herald, Sharon, Pa.

Local News

October 25, 2009

District’s financial forecast unveiled

Fluctuating figures concern one director

By Patrick Cooley

BROOKFIELD — Brookfield Local School District introduced a five-year forecast of its finances at a school board meeting on Wednesday.

The total projected revenues and expenditures differ very little over the next few years. But at the school board meeting where the plan was approved, board member Joe Pasquerilla expressed some concern.

“I would like it to say, for the record, that the superintendent has seen this forecast and that it meets with his approval,” Pasquerilla said.

He later said that he was concerned the forecast had fluctuated so much from the forecast the board had approved over the summer, saying the differences were in the thousands of dollars.

“You can’t just throw $400,000 around just because it’s convenient,” he said.

Brookfield Superintendent Tim Saxton indicated at the board meeting that he had reviewed the plan, and he does believe it is accurate.

The forecast predicts that in the 2010 fiscal year, the district will take in $9,694,531, and spend $9,336,576. The projected total revenue steadily goes down over the four years following, reaching $9,182,448 for the 2014 fiscal year, with a projected expenditure of $9,467,292 for that year.

The forecast is something the district is required to do twice a year, according to Treasurer David Drawl, once in May and again in October.

Ohio started to require districts to put together forecasts several years ago when schools across the state started to run into budget deficits.

“There are about 35 pages of guidelines from the auditor of state, for a five-year forecast,” Drawl said.

He said there were reasons for the change between the May forecast and the October forecast. One of the biggest of those, he said, was money from the federal government’s economic stimulus package.

Drawl said the district didn’t know exactly how much money it would getting from the stimulus in May, but had that figure when the forecast in October was done.

“The expenses are going to be reduced this year because of the stimulus,” he said.

He also said there were other reasons for the projected expenditures for the 2010 fiscal year, such as state and federal grants.

Drawl said the amount of property tax revenue the district is slated to bring in is based on past valuations of property in Brookfield Township, and past collection numbers.

The bulk of tax revenue comes from property taxes, from which the district collected $2,302,069 in the 2008 fiscal year, and $2,639,461 in the 2009 fiscal year. The district also gets more than $5 million from the state in unrestricted monies, and nearly $1 million in restricted money from the state and federal government that must be used for specific purposes.

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