Batavia schools pass new operating budget

The Batavia School Board Tuesday night passed a $57.6 million operating budget, with about a $900,000 surplus.

Finance Director Kim Anderson said the budget was based on conservative estimates, especially in terms of state aid.

Last year, the district received about $7.5 million in total state aid. This year, Anderson budgeted about $6.4 million.

If the state foundation level is raised further than it is now proposed, it would be a bonus for the district, she said.

Only the district's site and construction fund has a deficit, approximately $679,000, but that will be helped when the district issues bonds this spring from last year's successful referendum, Anderson said. The amount scheduled to be spent in that fund is also $57.6 million.

The district will be paying about $3.1 million more in salaries and benefits this year. That is due to hiring new staff members and negotiating a new five-year contract with the teachers union, Anderson said. About $450,000 of it is pay raises for teachers who got advanced degrees, she said.

There will also be a $150,000 increase in natural gas and electricity prices, and a $230,000 increase in mandated special education services, Anderson said.

Board member Joseph Purpura thanked Anderson for her work, noting her estimates in the past year had been accurate.

"We're putting together a $58 million budget, and we don't know what a lot of the numbers are," he said. "It's amazing we get so close."