Osage budget focuses on technology, building improvements

The School of the Osage Board of Education adopted a $28.3 million budget for the 2014-2015 fiscal year at its June 23 meeting, targeting big-ticket capital funds at technology upgrades and building improvements.

Flat revenues cause concern

With a projected total revenue of about $21.2 million, plentiful reserve funds will carry the district through the year's estimated $7 million deficit.

"Because we are so locally funded and because our local economy has seen very little growth ... the School of the Osage district is in a deficit spending cycle," said Superintendent Brent Depe© in his budget message to the school board. "If our local economy does not start seeing at least 5 percent growth each year, we will need to increase our operating levy to maintain our high level of education."

The district receives 82 percent of its funding from its local and county tax base, and the district's assessed valuation has remained stagnant over the past four years, Depe© said.

Two years ago the Board of Education established a goal of maintaining an unrestricted fund balance of 35 percent of expenditures. Depee expects the 2013-14 year's ending reserve balance to be between 40 and 42 percent and estimates the 2014-15 ending fund balance to be between 36 and 40 percent.

On the positive side, the Osage National tax increment financing (TIF) entity is set to go off the books in October, increasing assessed valuation by $7 million and producing approximately $180,000 in additional revenues for the district.

School of the Osage plans to maintain its tax levy at $2.40 per $100 of assessed valuation, one of the lowest in the state, but the school board will not officially set the levy until August.

Technology, facility maintenance tote price tags

Estimated expenditures of $28.3 million will go toward supplies and salaries as well as to major technology upgrades and building repairs.

"Educationally, the district realizes that in order for our students to compete for jobs globally, our school must increase its offerings technologically," Depee said in the budget message.

First in the queue for the coming year are new servers, which will cost $38,000 per year for three years. Administrators plan to establish a wireless infrastructure for the entire district. The cost of wireless capability at the newly renovated Heritage Building is built into the bond issue approved last April; and creating a seamless wireless environment for the district's main Osage Beach campus will cost about $350,000, half of which is included in this year's budget, with the second half of the work to be performed next summer.

Pilot programs to test devices in two classrooms for each building are budgeted at $92,000, $23,000 for each building. Plus, the district plans to purchase $123,000 worth of new computers for the Heritage Building.

A savings of $1.2 million from refinancing the existing debt on the middle school to pay it off by 2016 will help fund a roof replacement at the high school and field house, which will cost the district $470,000 this year and $1.5 million the next year. Other capital improvement funds will go toward concrete repairs, tuck-pointing on the field house, two new buses and new vehicles and equipment.

This year's budget allots for a 2.5 percent increase to all employee salaries and approves all teachers to move up a step on the pay schedule for years of service and academic credit attained. However, maximum out-of-pocket limits for employees' health insurance will double to appease the district's chronically ailing health escrow account. The district has also budgeted to add several positions, including an activities director, curriculum assessment and technology (CATS) director, four instructional support specialists, a webmaster and an additional bookkeeper.