Batavia School District 101 expects $2.2 million budget surplus next year

The Batavia Public School District 101 board's tentative 2024-25 budget is expected to have a surplus of more than $2 million, officials announced last week.

The budget is estimated at $135 million, district Chief Financial Officer Anton Inglese said, including a $2.2 million surplus.

"Overall revenues have increased by 3.1% to $137 million," Inglese said. "Meanwhile, our expenditures are expected to increase by 5.3%, so it's a good thing we have a surplus."

District documents show staff salaries are expected to rise by 8.5%, in part because of a new contract for teachers.

"The reason why salaries are increasing as much as they appear to be is because we have several vacancies for support staff that went unfilled in the prior year," Inglese said. "Since we didn't actually spend that money in the prior year, it looks like a bigger increase."

Inglese said the cost of staff benefits are expected to increase to 5.9%.

Student enrollment for the year will see a projected decrease by 2.2%, according to meeting documents.

The board will vote to adopt a final budget during its Sept. 15 meeting.

Also last week, new Superintendent Tom Kim said much of his summer was spent reaching out to students and community members.

"It's been an amazing early journey," Kim said. "There's so much support for this school district. It is so clear from inside our organization and outside our organization people love and care about our district and our students."