SHERBURN — The Martin County West School Board met on Monday via Zoom, hearing from the Eide Bailey Company as to the audit of the district. Rebecca Tomlinson from the Mankato office presented the executive summary up to June 2020. She said the report was like a risk assessment to determine what are possible high-risk areas. The school district had approximately $40,000 less revenue than expected or .4 percent and it had $254,000 more expenses than expected or 2.8 percent. The revenue was about 9.2 million and the expenses were 9.3 million. She gave comparisons to other years as to revenues. Most of the revenue comes from state sources with local levies and federal sources also contributing. The district is comparable to the state average. This average is based on student enrollment and average daily membership and can vary because some districts are larger or receive more federal grants. The expenses discussed were regular instruction, special education, pupil support, administration, and site and buildings expenses. General fund expenditures include salaries, purchased services, capital expenditures, and supplies and maintenance. There were not a lot of changes, which was expected.

The district’s positive fund balance has been maintained or exceeded their policy, of having enough resources to run the district for two months, for 10 years. Their positive fund balance is 4.1 million. Maintaining a positive fund balance contributes to a favorable bond rating, produces investment income, and provides a source of working capital for casual needs. It also provides a cushion for unexpected expenditures or revenue shortfalls. There is also a non-spendable balance. An unrestricted fund is a combination of committed, assigned, and unassigned fund balances. The district’s unrestricted fund balance is 2.9 million which is more than enough to operate this district for two months. The district has a community service fund, a food service fund, and a debt service fund. The community service fund has decreased due to less community education fees due to COVID. The food service fund needs to have enough in reserve to pay for three months of expenses, $144,000, and it has more than enough at $148,000, which also includes inventory which is a non-spendable balance. The debt services fund should be positive with property taxes, and state and federal sources.

The meeting continued with a public hearing for the truth in taxation presentation by the acting superintendent, Chad Brusky. He explained that the tax statements show that 62 percent of the taxes go to the state, 30 percent go to local towns and counties and 8 percent go to school districts. The state of Minnesota has lagged behind to keep up with inflation so local districts increase levies. Especially the rural districts are falling behind. Brusky said,” Our district is committed to one to one education and smaller classes, and education and building relationships with students from Pre-K to graduation.”

The school budget is projected to be about 8 million and the projected expenditures are expected to be about 9 million with a difference of around $500,000. Brusky explained that taxpayers should check their property tax statements for their classification and market value of property to make sure it is correct. There was a law passed in 2017 that should give agriculture market value credit on bonds. Check the statement for that line too. Martin County has been said to be a land rich county which does not help the tax situation.

Brusky mentioned several long term maintenance projects that may have to be repaired. Sherburn Elementary School roof repairs, surge tank repairs at the pool, parking lot repairs, north edge of the media center in Trimont, repairs and hot water lines at the Jr./Sr. High School was mentioned.

The regular school board meeting continued with approval of the $2M levy. The server of the school will be fixed and changed hopefully when students are not in school over the holiday break. The school will be back in session on Jan. 5, since the teachers have a staff day on Jan. 4 to implement the changes the governor has required for hybrid learning.