On Feb. 14 the Board of Education for School District 10 (SD 10) passed the amended annual budget bylaw for the 2016/2017 fiscal year.
The amended budget bylaw is made up of operating expenses of $7,541,589, special purpose fund expenses of $615,051, capital asset purchases of $108,822 and amortization of $536,809. The total amended budget is in the amount of $8,802,271.
The 2016/17 amended budget is lower than the original budget mainly because of a decrease in operating expenses and an increase in revenues.
“It really is good news for the district,” said Susan Brenna-Smith, Director of Finance for SD 10. “We’ve managed to reduce the expenses and increase the revenues while maintaining the same level of educational service to our students.”
The operating budget includes budgeted revenues of approximately $7.3 million with budgeted expenses of approximately $7.5 million for a shortfall of approximately $260,000.
The budgeted appropriation from last year’s surplus of approximately $317,000 includes $57,000 of equipment purchases.
To begin discussions on the 2017/18 budget, a team consisting of trustees, senior management, principals, teachers, parents, members of PAC, and the two unions meet three times.
A lot of information is given out at these meetings, and priorities for the budget are discussed.
“We can’t maintain everything with reduced operating grants, and we’re really careful to maintain the educational quality we give our students,” said Brenna-Smith.
One of the priorities that has come up at these meetings over the last few years has been has been energy conservation, and staff at SD 10 have been very successful in that initiative.
“We’ve got LED lighting in the school, we’ve conserved our heating by turning down the thermostats in the schools, and we’ve got smart light switches, where if nobody is in a room, the lights turn off,” said Brenna-Smith. “To me it’s saying that budget consultative process is working. We’re working with our partners and we’re listening to them on what people think is important for them, and we’re putting that to good use in the budgeting process.”
The complete 2016/17 Amended Annual Budget package can be found on our website at www.sd10.bc.ca under Board of Education/Financial Information and Budgets.
