Goodrich- By a 7-0 vote on Monday night the school board of trustees accepted an audit from Lewis & Knopf for the 2014-15 fiscal year ending June 30. The audit was presented by Antia Abrol, principal.
The district ended the 2014-15 fiscal year with a fund balance of 9.60 percent or $1,799,546, up from 7.33 percent or $1,336,529 at the end of the 2013-14 fiscal year. The district added to the fund balance by $463,017 compared to the 2013-14 school year where the district dipped into the fund for $124,791 to balance the budget. In comparison the district ended the 2012-2013 audit ended with $1,461,320 in fund balance? about 8.36 percent’a decline of $597,295 in reserves from the 2011-12 fiscal year. The 2010-11 fiscal year ended with a fund balance of about 15.5 percent or $2,776,469.
‘The rule on school fund balances was 15 to 20 percent,? said Terese Knag, Genesee Intermediate School District, shared time director business services. ‘As the economy changed the number is now about 10 percent. You really want to be at 15 percent that way the district will have to borrow less state aide to cover expenses in the late summer.?
The 2014-15 revenues for the district were $19,204,302 up from $18,108,342 in the 2013-14 school year. Expenditures were at $18,741,285 in the 2014-15 fiscal year. In February the district purchased six 77-passenger Blue Bird buses to be financed through an installment purchase agreement for the sum of $476,778. The district purchased the buses from Holland, Michigan-based Holland Bus Company. The budgeted expenditures dipped by $345,000 from $19.09 million to $18.74 million. About 71 percent of the budget is spent on salaries.
‘A big savings this past year was energy costs were down with new buses in the fleet,? said David Cramer, school board president. ‘We are spending less on the transportation now than last year. This is good news, but we are not out of the woods yet. We have a host of capital projects on the facilities upcoming and this will help fund these projects. It’s a big step, but work needs to be done on our buildings.?