School board adopts new budget

The St. Vrain Valley School District Board of Education adopted its fiscal year 2021-22 budget yesterday.

Tony Whiteley, executive director of budget and finance for SVVSD, updated the board with recent changes to the budget since the public hearing on June 6. 

According to Whiteley, the newly adopted budget was in flux due to the unknown implementation of state legislation concerning the School Finance Act, the impact of oil and gas assessment in Weld County and negotiations concerning teacher salary and benefit increases. 

Since the June 6 public hearing these numbers have become more clear, Whitely states. 

The School Finance Act will increase the district’s revenue by $3.3 million above district estimates. 

Also, the Weld County Assessor’s Office reported a 2.7% decrease in monies coming from the oil and gas industry due to the pandemic, Whiteley said. In previous versions of the budget, the district estimated a 5% decrease among all counties. Weld County accounts for 45% of these funds, the district now estimates an estimated $1.6 million dollars in revenue available for the upcoming school year, according to Whiteley.

Offsetting some of the increases in revenue, the district expects an additional $1.7 millions in expenditures to go toward telecommunications needs, to open the Highlands Elementary School, teacher salary negotiations and more staffing throughout the district, Whiteley said.

The school board unanimously approved the proposed budget with Paula Peairs and John Ahrens absent. 

According to Whiteley, no one in the public reached out with comments or concerns regarding the budget.