Ferguson-Florissant Board Approves Changes to 2012-13 Budget

The Ferguson-Florissant Board of Education approved amendments to its 2012-13 fiscal year budget Wednesday night, but a number of clarifications were needed before the final vote.

Chief Financial Officer Mick Willis presented the board amendments, which he said came with a number of grant approvals. He also pointed out that a line item for homeless transportation, which was originally listed at $0, had been updated to $500,000 for the year.

Superintendent Art McCoy said that the line item that had been put at $0 since grants and reimbursements from other school districts had fallen behind in being accounted and were now being updated to accurately reflect expenses.

Willis further explained that with the grants and other accounting, the district will end the 2012-13 school year a bit higher than anticipated in June of this year when the original budget was approved.

He said that the balances for 2012-13 are anticipated to end at $22.8 million, opposed to $21.6 million, which had been presented in June. He also noted that the reserves would be increased due to this.

“We’re still ending with balances higher than what was expected – and that’s a good thing,” Willis said.

He said adjustments were made to income and spending in relation to the grants, too, for a balanced budget. For example, a vocational grant for $400,000 in equipment was allocated in income and $400,000 has been planned to be spent for equipment.

Some board members seemed concerned for further budget amendments down the line for the same fiscal year, but Willis assured them that it will not happen every single meeting and if adjustments would needed to be made, they would be significant financial items, such as $100,000-$250,000 in expenses or spending.