Fulton Public Schools board members got their first look at the Fiscal Year 2020 budget Wednesday evening.
Superintendent Jacque Cowherd characterized the budget as a healthy one. The proposed, initial FY20 budget shows revenues over expenditures of $282,067 in the operating fund.
When factoring in all funds, expenses outweigh revenue by $649,857, due to debt service prepayment and capital expenditures.
"That's a strategic choice," Cowherd said at the recent board of education meeting.
An overall healthy economy in Fulton bodes well for the district's economic health, according to a budget summary prepared by FPS officials. The assessed valuation of all properties in the Fulton 58 School District has grown by an average of 3.23 percent over the last 10 years.
Assessed valuation for 2018 was $218.3 million, an increase of 3.06 percent from the previous year.
The district continues to lean on local funding, rather than state or federal dollars.
"The past few years, state revenue has slightly increased, but not at the rate required for a quality education," the summary explains.
Thus, the FY20 budget projects local and county funding at 54 percent of revenue, and state funding at 38 percent. Compare that to FY11, when county funding was 51 percent of revenue and state, 34 percent.
Notable changes to expenditures include:
A $200 increase to the base certified staff payment schedule
Classified staff schedules being increased to meet the 2020 minimum wage of $9.45 per hour
A general supply budget increase of 10 percent
An increase to secondary athletic budgets
A net increase of 2.5 full-time-equivalent staff members
For more, detailed information on the preliminary proposed budget, see the full document at bit.ly/2Ifz0dn.