(Spirit Lake)—Following a long and arduous process, the Spirit Lake school board voted unanimously last (Mon.) evening to adopt a budget for the upcoming fiscal year that includes over a million dollars in cuts. Several teaching and support positions were among those on the chopping block.
Adoption of the budget followed a public hearing. Many wanted assurances proper steps are being taken to prevent overspending from happening again; others questioned ongoing impacts on the budget. Some expressed concern over additional long-term maintenance costs the district will be incurring in the future now with several new facilities on line…including the Sami Center. Superintendent Doug Latham countered by saying the new facilities, including the Sami Center, will be playing just as crucial roll in the educational process as the other facilities in the district.
And now that the tough choices have been made, Latham says the board still has a daunting challenge ahead of it…holding the line on future spending.
Another big challenge is over an anticipated negative balance in the district’s unspent authority. Latham told the board last (Mon.) evening that’s expected to show up some time in 2009. And he says at that point, they’ll have to go before the state’s School Budget Review Committee (SBRC) to seek authority for the previous overspending. Latham warned that if the committee rejects that, the district could be looking at even more cuts next year.
The budget that was adopted last (Mon.) evening has a total tax levy of $9.51 per thousand dollars of valuation.
The board also Monday adopted a resolution converting a short term bond into a long-term one to help fund construction of the new High School Gym and the Sami Center. The interest rate for the 6.8 million dollar Local Option Sales and Service Tax Revenue bond came in a full percentage point lower than originally expected.
