by Kate Evans
The Morgan County School Board unanimously adopted their proposed total $30,559,331 Fiscal Year 2020 budget at their Tuesday, May 21
meeting, pending approval by the West Virginia Board of Education. A public hearing on the budget was held at the meeting before its adoption. No
members of the public offered any comments.
School Treasurer Ann Bell said there had been no changes to the proposed budget that was presented at their May 7 meeting and was published in The Morgan Messenger.
Their proposed total budget has an estimated general current expense fund of $24,865,269, a projected $4,494,062 special revenue fund and a $1,200,000 capital projects fund.
Bell said the general current expense fund budget revenue is $772,175 more than it was in Fiscal Year 2019. The total school budget is actually $27,846,618 without the $2,712,713 unfunded retirement liability that schools are required to carry as a paper-only budget line item.
Revenue
The general current expense fund revenue includes a projected $5,025,014 in regular school levy
property taxes, $4,250,065 in special levy taxes, $812,500 in prior year taxes, $13,851,540 in total state aid and an estimated $600,000 carryover fund balance.
Total estimated tax revenue from the combined regular school and special levies is up $276,354 from last year. Bell said there was an increase of nearly $31 million in assessed county property values this year.
State aid went up $276,417 from last year, but most of it will be paying for the projected state increases in school personnel salaries.
Expenditures
Estimated school expenditure categories include $14,968,467 for instruction; $2,656,329 for facilities operations and maintenance; $1,848,860 for student transportation; $1,166,570 for student support services; $1,501,740 for school administration; $879,510 for instructional staff; $403,260 for central services; and $322,087 for central administration.
Some $20,357.620—81.87% of the budget—will go toward professional and service personnel salaries, substitute costs, supplemental salaries for coaches, afterschool tutors and extracurricular duties plus benefits including health insurance, retirement benefits, Social Security, Medicare and dental/vision insurance.
Special levy
The total estimated revenue of the special levy for Fiscal Year 2020 is $4,250,065-some $126,633 more than last fiscal year’s estimated special levy revenue.
The special levy call designates $1,904,860 for employee salaries and benefits costs; $1,147,438 for critical educational programs support including alternative education, prevention resources and behavioral, academic and remedial support; $535,000 for facilities maintenance, security and capital improvements; $125,000 for technology hardware, software, infrastructure, repair and training; $400,000 for instructional materials and supplies; and $35,000 for the combined support of the Morgan County Public Library and the Paw Paw Public Library.
Major expenditures
Major proposed general current expense fund expenditures for the Fiscal Year 2019 are $10,097,840 for professional regular salaries, $2,609,380 for service personnel regular salaries, the $2,712,713 unfunded retirement liability, $1,345,570 for health/life insurance premiums, $1,035,567 for social security matching, a total of $970,610 for retirement plans, $625,000 for electricity and $412,300 for the retiree health benefit trust.
Other large school system expenses include $389,180 for purchased services-LEA in state, $325,214 for non-technical repair/maintenance service, $322,947 for the QZAB loan repayment and CMTA lease purchase payment, $309,900 for other professional services, $249,290 for professional supplemental salaries, $221,220 for professional substitutes, $192,500 for service personnel substitutes, $164,514 for general supplies, $160,000 for diesel vehicle fuel, $149,049 for maintenance supplies and $142,269 for textbooks.
