by David Hill
Editor
Revenues and expenses continue to go in the wrong direction.
Monday, Oct. 24, Tanya Monson-Ek, who works for a private auditing company after having served as the Thief River Falls School District’s business manager, provided a preliminary audit to the Board of Education.
Monson-Ek said the District’s general fund was at $5.1 million, which was down $891,000 from the previous year. The School District has a policy of keeping the unrestricted fund portion of the budget at between 10 and 25 percent. Currently, it sits at 13.6 percent.
Monson-Ek looked at a number of restricted funds. The food service fund, for example, is doing well, but there are plans for using it in the near future.
Monson-Ek then discussed the WADM or Weighted Average Daily Membership, which refers to enrollment. WADM determines the amount of state aid the District receives from the state.
Monson-Ek presented her five-year projection, which shows the current WADM at 2001.80, but declining to 1,877.40 in five years. She said her projections are always very conservative.
Using the five-year projections and other data, she looked at revenues and expenses, which showed revenues declining and expenses increasing. The five-year projection estimated that revenue would decline from $23.9 million to $22.33 million, due mostly to the decrease in state aid. Expenses, on the other hand, would increase from $23.8 million to $25.58 million during the same time period.
That’s why there’s talk about a referendum and moving forward with this process, she said. “There is a need,” said Monson-Ek.
Mike Spears, member of the Board of Education, pointed out that the last time voters approved an operating referendum was 2004.
Cost overrun
It wasn’t the kind of news the Board of Education would want to hear. Craig Mattson, member of the Board of Education, provided a summary of the discussion held by the Facilities Committee at a recent meeting. Of particular note was the announcement that the District Service Center facility improvement project was way over budget. Mattson said that when crews began digging, they found signficant foundation and drainage issues. The original construction bid was for $120,000 but work was already anticipated to cost $250,000. Mattson said construction and maintenance projects next year may be zero because of the cost overrun.
The Facilities Committee also discussed staff issues. There are eight cleaners in the District and there should be 16. Some of the ideas they came up with during a brainstorming session included hiring students to help or seeking another local resource for help.
TIF approved
A resolution approving a tax increment financing plan for what is being described as The Angle development was approved by the Board of Education.
Mark Borseth, consultant for the City of Thief River Falls, explained MAK Construction plans to move forward with constructing a four-story mixed-use building that would consist of 93 market-rate housing units plus commercial property without a separate building for daycare for the time being.
The proposal has been discussed by the Thief River Falls City Council for several months, and would be located near Valley Assisted Living.
Borseth said the developer was not able to get the day care piece started. Because this was part of the original proposal, the city wanted to provide the Board of Education and County an opportunity to reflect on the absence of the day care piece.
When pressed on whether the developer would continue to pursue a day care, Borseth said the developer was very passionate about it.
Currently, taxes on this parcel of land amount to $250. If the project is built, it’s estimated it would generate up to $300,000 per year when the economic development TIF expires, which was estimated to be up to nine years.
The economic development TIF requires that all three entities approve it.
Two-mile rule?
The Transportation Committee continues to discuss “what ifs” and ways to improve transportation in the District. The transportation department is still short drivers. Any absences could cause significant alterations to routes and availability.
Presenting the Transportation Committee report, Interim Superintendent Dr. Paula Henry said one of the “what ifs” discussed was the two-mile rule. Currently, students who live within one mile of school don’t receive busing. Due to the lack of drivers, the District is looking at extending it to two miles.
They estimate there are 23 day cares within the two-mile zones. They also know that the District would still have to provide busing for special education students (required by statute).
Henry tried to reassure parents saying they are trying to keep things as they are, and that “we’re doing our very best.”