Brittnay Spry, Jamestown Public Schools business official, provided an update on fund balance and other financial matters during Tuesday night’s board meeting. P-J photo by Katrina Fuller

The Jamestown Public Schools Board this week heard a financial presentation about the importance of fund balance in the future.

Business official Brittnay Spry gave an overview of the general financial situation of the district and delved a bit deeper into fund balance and other issues.

“Our district has not increased taxes since 2010-11,” she said. “Our unassigned fund balance has kind of gone up and down following the district’s financial situation, so we’ve seen highs and lows from 2010-11 to the present. Our reserve funds, we have pretty much seen slow growth in them since the 2011 school year to present. I think it’s really important to remember as we look toward the future, we talk about our current situation. We are a district that is heavily reliant on state aid. About 80% of our budget is made up from state aid, so when we talk about things like unassigned fund balance and reserve funds, those things are really important to help us bridge the gaps during the years that the state is in not a great financial situation.”

Spry added that the district has seen an increase in funding due to the COVID-9 pandemic, as well as an increase in Foundation Aid funding. The Foundation Aid formula takes into consideration the higher-need districts in a fair manner and provides them with adequate funding. The formula was introduced in 2007, used for one year, but was frozen by the state in the second year due to the recession.

In recent months, the governor said the state will fully fund the current Foundation Aid formula. The funds will be disbursed over three years.

“In the executive budget that was just introduced in January, we saw an increase in the foundation aid this year, and we are anticipating an increase in foundation aid next year to get us to where we should have been 10 years ago,” Spry said. “The state has promised us that they are going to get there. We are in year two of three of an increase in foundation aid.”

Spry said that trend is expected to continue next year as well.

“As we think about that in 2022-23 where we kind of have an idea of what our revenue is going to look like, looking to the future beyond that, we talked about that … this will play out for a little bit more uncertainty,” she said. “We don’t know what that looks like starting in the 2024-25 school year.”

In a graph displayed during this week’s school board meeting, Spry pointed out that without reserves and fund balance, the uncertainty continues in financial forecasts for the district.

“It just really shows the importance of having funds available in our reserve funds, in our assigned and unassigned fund balance to support our budget so that we can operate with a balanced budget, and the sooner we can look ahead. It’s all the better of a situation once we get there,” she added.

Spry said the board reviews the reserve funds for the district each year, and many of those reserve funds are created by law. This year, the district is hoping to propose new reserve funds as the district moves forward. The district is looking to create a capital improvement project fund that will help the district maintain facilities and buildings in the future, as well as a reserve for transportation and equipment.

After the presentation, board member Shelly Leathers added regarding the graphs presented, the board is working diligently to make sure the reserve funds and other areas are where they need to be in the future.