The Windsor C-1 Board of Education has approved its 2024-2025 operating budget that projects the district spending $1.2 million more than it brings in.
According to the budget for fiscal year 2025, which started July 1 and runs through June 30, 2025, the district is projected to spend $33,981,306 and bring in $32,299,566.
“The main reasons for this (deficit) includes rising costs in all areas, salaries for personnel and flat revenues,” Superintendent Jason King said. “Moving forward, the district will continue to implement a conservative budgeting approach to prepare for fluctuating expenditures and revenues in order to assure long-term fiscal stability.”
King said the district will use reserve funds to cover the deficit spending.
The district started this fiscal year with about $6.1 million in reserves, and the new budget projects the district ending with $4,381,043 in reserve funds, or about 12.7 percent of the annual operating, he said.
King said the district’s goal is to keep about 20 percent in reserves.
He said the approximately $500,000 difference between the projected $1.7 million drop in reserve funds and the projected $1.2 million in deficit spending for the FY25 budget are because that money was set aside for capital project contingencies.
“It’s because we built in a $552,000, contingency for our Fund 4 (capital) projects if we need it,” he said. “We’ve never had to use it.”
Despite the deficit spending and drop in reserves, the Windsor district remains financially stable, King said.
“The district is in solid financial shape, thanks to prudent fiscal management and the ongoing support of our community,” he said. “We remain committed to budgeting in a manner that prioritizes providing the best possible education for our students, recognizes the dedication of our hardworking staff and ensures the long-term financial stability of the district.”
The FY25 budget includes 1.2 percent raises for its employees, plus a pay raise tied to a step on the salary schedule.
All of the district’s 419 employees are on salary schedules and all will get the raise, he said.
King said the employee raises will cost the district $528,948.
Administrators get the same raises as the rest of the district’s employees, he said, and his salary increases to $165,808 from his previous salary of $160,148.
The FY25 budget doesn’t include any new major capital improvement projects.
However, it includes several projects that are being funded with revenue from a $20 million bond issue voters approved in April 2022.
A list of the projects follows:
■ New gymnasium at Windsor Intermediate Center, with an estimated completion date of Dec. 27;
■ New band and choir facilities at Windsor High School, with an estimated completion date of Dec. 13;
■ New weight room-training facility at Windsor High School, with an estimated completion date of Dec. 13;
■ New family and consumer life sciences (FACS) and art facilities at Windsor High School, with an estimated completion date of Dec. 13.
King said the new Windsor Intermediate gymnasium will cost about $6,335,533, and the Windsor High projects (new band-choir facilities, new weight-training facilities, new FACS and art facilities) will cost an estimated $5,517,436.
The bond issue revenue also will pay for general HVAC repairs and replacement, as well as road replacement and roof replacement at Windsor High School and other smaller projects around the district, King said.
He said the board also approved the following pay increases for substitute teachers starting in the 2024-2025 school year: a $15 raise from $95 to $110 for days one to 10; a $25 raise from $95 to $120 for retired teachers; an additional $5 added for guest substitute teachers starting day 11, raising the pay from $125 to $130; and an additional $15 added pay starting with day 11 for those substituting for an individual teacher, raising the pay from $125 to $140.
The district’s tax rate is 4.7785 percent per $100 assessed valuation.
The School board voted unanimously June 24 to approve the new budget.