Surplus with a Purpose?

Since the district isn't uttering a peep regarding the status of the 2011-12 budget or potential ramifications of the FY2012-13 budget, we will.  We were reviewing the current " EXPENDITURE SUMMARY REPORT BY OBJECT ".

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 Let's start with the low hanging fruit.  Unless you've spent the last 4-5 months working on your tan in Florida, then it should come as no big news to you that we've had a pretty mild winter.  And with a mild winter comes huge "savings"...or, as some district folks like to phrase it, "cost avoidances".

Little snow (okay except for yesterday) means little need for snow removal costs.
Warmer temperatures means for less need for building heat.
Milder temperatures also mean less electricity use what with the thermostat not going on and off.
Actually, we looked at the heating degree days data for the winter, and learned that going back to October, the Madison area is running 18% LOWER than the average year.  And when you realize that the school district budget based its budget off of last year's budget (where we had a surplus) and then ADDED 5%, then there's room for a pretty heft budget surplus AGAIN this year.

The pants of this budget are so loose,
we haven't seen this much crack
since the refrigerator guy was here

Like Caren Diedrich, we understood that this budget was so tight that it squeaked.  Actually, it's  looking like this budget's so loose, it's pants are gonna drop.  You've seen it...and you know it's not attractive.

More to the point, once again, it appears that we budgeted WAY more than necessary.  Your tax dollars at work.  Any guess as to what little projects the district will be seeking to fund with your unnecessary tax dollars?  Let's look at the projected surplus from just 3 budget lines.

Substitute Teacher Salaries
The budgeted amount was $1.25M for the entire school year.  Given that school is only in session 10 months, that comes to about $125,000 per month.  In January, we spent $86,000.  Having only spent $440,000 year-to-date (~$85,000/mo), that leaves us with a budget balance of $810,000 for the remaining 3.5 months of the school year.  Unless a whole boatload of teachers are planning on attending week-long conferences, we should EASILY have $250,000 to $350,000 leftover--if not more.

Gas for Heating

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The budgeted amount was $305K for the entire school year.  Given heating is usually mainly needed in October through April , that comes to about $50,000 per month.  In January, we spent roughly $40,000.

Having only spent $100,000 year-to-date (~$25,000/mo), that leaves us with a budget balance of $205,000 for the remaining 2.5 heating months of the school year.  And those would be warmer months in an already warmer than average year.  Unless the arctic slides south a few thousand miles, we should EASILY have $80,000 to $100,000 leftover----and likely more.

Electricity
The budgeted amount was $1.2M for the entire school year.  That comes to about $100,000 per month--on average---and we know that costs are heavier from September through June.  In January, we spent $93,000.  Having only spent $560,000 year-to-date, that leaves us with a remaining budget balance of $650,000 for the remaining 5 months of the school year.  While we could have a VERY warm spring in store, it seems likely that we will have over-budgeted by $100,000 to $150,000.

Combined Projected Surplus
From just three budget lines, mind, you....we see what appears to be somewhere between $400,000 and $600,000.

Stay tuned as we peer into other parts of the budget.