Murry presents balanced budget for 2008-09

Dr. Greg Murry, superintendent of the Conway School District, painted a financial picture for the rest of the 2008-09 fiscal year during an informative meeting Thursday night.

The picture he painted for members of the district's Board of Education and a group of directors and administrators was much rosier than the one he described during the 2007 budget meeting.

Murry reminded those gathered for the meeting of how the ending balance for the district's operating budget rapidly dropped from $20.4 million in 2004-05 to $6 million in 2006-07.

"I told you a year ago this time if you didn't reverse the trend we'd be in deficit spending very quickly," Murry said. "But we did reverse it, and we ended with $7.1 million last year, which was better than we thought."

Murry said the $7.1 million number is one he would like to see the school district stick with, as that is the budgeted ending balance for the current fiscal year.

"At the end of the year, we'll have spent no more than we actually brought in," Murry said. "And the important thing is we are going to present a balanced budget to the board at our meeting Tuesday night."

The budgeted revenue Murry presented to the group was $71,866,701 and the budgeted expenditures totaled $71,849,863.

On the revenue side of the proposed budget, a total of 44.8 percent of that money, $32,206,172, will come from property taxes, he said, which is a much higher number than the district has seen in recent years. However, a rise in property taxes means a decrease when it comes to state funding, which is budgeted for $38,630,031 of the total revenue.

"The property wealth of our district continues to grow because there are businesses coming in and the reassessments that are going on now," Murry said. "And the wealthier we are, in terms of local population, the less money we receive from the state."

As far as the purpose for the revenue that will be flowing into the school district this year, Murry said 96 percent of it will go toward general education, three percent will go to workforce education, meaning classes within the career center and the final one percent will benefit the adult education program.

The predicted stream of revenue for the 2007-08 fiscal year was $66,541,009 and the actual figure was $70,276,848, which means the district is budgeting a two percent increase in revenue for the current year.

The expenditures for the 2008-09 proposed budget will come from certified teachers' salaries, the operating budget, which includes the salaries of classified employees, and the debt service fund, Murry said.

An important number to look at, according to Murry, is the $56.3 million that is budgeted for salaries and benefits for all employees. He said that total makes up 78 percent of the expenditures.

"Seventy-eight percent of every dollar goes to the people and nine percent goes to our debts," Murry said. "Unless you go through the financial troubles we went through last year, which we will not, this is not a controllable cost. The other 13 percent, the supplies and services, are controllable."

In comparison to last year's numbers the total expenditures are budgeted for a three percent increase from the $69.1 million spent last year, he said.

Jack Truemper of Stephens Inc. was also present at the meeting to provide a financial analysis of the district.

He discussed the five bond issues and one postdated warrant that are outstanding and said the district has a total of $91.2 million in total principal debt. Truemper said the district's net borrowing power at 27 percent is now $137.3 million.

"This is a good guideline to go by and it's a nice thing to know if there is a need that arises and you need to borrow more money," Truemper said.

Truemper also presented a copy of the existing debt service payments which began with the $6.4 million budgeted for the 2008-09 fiscal year and ended with $3.8 million to be paid in 2033-34. He when it comes to debt payment, each of the five bond issues listed are on a five-year call feature.

"After five years, each of those could be paid in full from any source with no penalties," Truemper said. "So, if all of the sudden an alumnus comes in and drops a lot of money on the district to relieve all debts, you would be able to do that."

Murry also informed the group as of Thursday there is a little more than $1 million left over in the district's building fund after everything has been paid for regarding current projects, including Woodrow Cummins Elementary School, Conway High School East renovations and the roof project at Carl Stuart Middle School.

"I do think we cannot just keep it because the concept of selling bonds is that you spend the money you're given," Murry said. "So we've got to look at the possibility of purchasing more property for future school sites and we've got to look at certain issues on our campuses."

Murry said a few options could be looking into more video surveillance within the district, keyless entry systems for the buildings and bringing the older school buildings up to speed.

(Staff writer Jessica Bauer can be reached by e-mail at jessica.bauer@thecabin.net or by phone at 505-1236. To comment on this and other stories in the Log Cabin, log on to www.thecabin.net. Send us your news at www.thecabin.net/submit)