Lathrop R-II State of the School

1. Lathrop R-II State of the School A Report on District Finances: Past, Current and Future.

2. Financial Past • Passed Bond Issue in 2006 to continue with the current levy to build new high school. • Increased construction costs meant we had to also do a lease-purchase agreement for part of the facility. • The ongoing recession has taken it’s toll • We reduced the tax levy for debt service, to be able to increase the operating levy, to not raise the overall levy, hoping the economy would rebound.

3. Financial Past • Overall tax levy has risen 37 cents in 8 years. • Despite falling revenues, we have kept our reserves high (28-35%) by decreasing spending. • We were able to give all staff members an increase of around 3% last year. Teachers had received a minimal take home salary increase of about a half of one percent for the prior two years, and about 1.5% the year before.

4. Our Current Operating Budget is almost $500,000 dollars less than four years ago. That’s cutting almost 5% of our spending despite an increase in enrollment. • We are now paying about $670,000 per year on our high school ($500,000 on the bonds and $170,000 on the lease purchase). Current Finances

5. Our Assessed Valuation of the district increased just a bit (.3%), still lower than it was in 2008-2009, and 5% lower than all time high. Current Finances

6. We increased our debt service levy 20 cents to .6725, due to increasing payments. We could have legally raised it to $1.11. • We are projecting a carryover figure of about 30%. That means we’re spending about 5% more than we’re expecting to receive. • After increasing about 50 kids last year, we are up close to another 50 this year. Current Finances

7. We get about 45% of our revenue from the state. • We’re hoping for that number to be no less than we received this year. As of right now we think that amount will be pretty stable, but you never know. Financial Future

8. We receive about 5-10% of our funds from the federal government. Right now we don’t know what to expect for next year. • We receive the remaining 40-45% from our local taxes. Financial Future

9. Our assessed valuation did go up about .31 percent over last year, I wouldn’t think it would do much over that this year. • If we keep our current levy, we would expect to receive about the same amount of funds as well. Financial Future

10. Last year our payments on the high school were about $600,000. This year (and next) will be about $670,000. • We did not plan for the current recession, so we planned for the payments to begin increasing, keeping pace with the economy. Financial Future - Debt

11. We cannot refinance those bonds until about 2016. We will have to get our debt service levy up to 85 or 90 cents. • What is the difference between operating and debt service? • Current debt service levy is .6725. Planning to increase this over the next three years. • (See debt service spreadsheet) Financial Future

12. Current and Past Levies • Year Operating Debt Total • 2013 $ 4.39 $ 0.6727 $ 5.0627 • 2012 $ 4.39 $ 0.4727 $ 4.8627 • 2011 $ 4.3175 $ $ 0.4227 $ 4.7402 • 2010 $ 4.2102 $ - $ 0.5209 $ - $ 4.7400 2009 $ 4.2414 $ - $ 0.4486 $ - $ 4.6900 2008 $ 4.2414 $ - $ 0.4486 $ - $ 4.6900 2007 $ 3.8400 $ - $ 0.8500 $ - $ 4.6900 2006 $ 4.3900 $ - $ 0.3000 $ - $ 4.6900

13. Area Comparisons • Among schools in our County, there are three higher and five lower. • Kearney is highest at 5.35 • Cameron is lowest at 4.08

14. Looking at Possible Funding Needs Facilities Programs Financial Future

15. I’ll try to answer any questions. If I don’t know, I’ll get back to you. Questions