School board OKs list of appropriations

General fund spending is up 7.4 percent this year.
By HAROLD GWIN
VINDICATOR EDUCATION WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Youngstown City School District will spend $251.5 million this year, an increase of nearly 13 percent over fiscal 2005.
The school board formally adopted the list of appropriations for 2006 Tuesday.
The fiscal year began July 1, but the state doesn't require school boards to approve permanent appropriations until Oct. 1 for the current school year.
That list, which includes local, state and federal funds, can still be amended at any time to reflect spending changes, said Carolyn Funk, district treasurer.
Youngstown's appropriations numbers for both fiscal 2005 and 2006 are artificially inflated by the ongoing $202 million building replacement and renovation program, Funk said.
Those numbers aren't part of the normal operating costs for the district but must be added to the appropriations list as individual building projects are done, she said.
The fiscal 2005 list showed $24.7 million in construction costs, while the 2006 list jumps to $84 million.
Remove building construction from the totals and the appropriations list is actually lower for 2006, Funk said.
Youngstown spent $198.2 million last year for operations, but the number is expected to drop to $167.5 million this year, she said.
The biggest difference is in the bond retirement account.
Debt
Youngstown spent $47.3 million last year paying off old debts but has a 2006 debt service of just $2.8 million, she said.
Funk said the district has paid off a $40 million debt load that existed when she took the job of treasurer five years ago.
The general fund portions of the appropriations list, which includes employee salaries and insurance among other things, stands at $120.3 million for 2006, up from $112 million for 2005. That represents a 7.4-percent spending increase.
The biggest increases are $2.8 million more in salaries, $1.1 million more in employee retirement and insurance costs and $3.5 million more in purchased services for special programs and other assistance from outside agencies.
Exactly how much money the district will have to meet those projected expenses isn't clear yet.
Funk said she is awaiting final expenditure reports from various grant programs before she can prepare a certification of resources (revenue list) for this year. That should be done by the next school board meeting in about two weeks, she said.
Once that is in place, Funk said she will be able to prepare a five-year forecast on district finances.
gwin@vindy.com