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On Thursday, Oct. 10, the Snowflake Unified School District Governing Board discussed and approved the 2019 annual financial report presented by Business Manager Mark Ollerton. In a further report from Ollerton, the board approved new playground equipment and an awning for Taylor Elementary School after hearing that the current equipment is shattered and sharp.
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“Comparing this year to last year, (the) primary and secondary tax rate did go down, revenues were up, the expenditures were also up and the significant reason why those expenditures were up so much was there was an increase in our base support level last year,” stated Ollerton.
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“About $700,000 of that was directed at teacher’s salaries and that was voted on and directed by the Governor to make sure that took place. That’s why the expenditures are up so much and our average daily membership pretty much stayed the same and that’s good. If you can keep your enrollment pretty much the same or greater than the year before, then things are good for you, pretty steady,” Ollerton explained to the board.
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The primary tax rate is 4.3 percent, down from 4.5 percent in 2018. The secondary tax rate is 1.04 percent, down from 1.09 percent last year. Revenues are $20.3 million this year, up from $18.9 million last year. Expenditures are also up to $20.1 million compared to last year’s total of $18.6 million. The carryover from last year’s budget is nearly $2.1 million to this year. Total assets this year are nearly $42.9 million. The average daily membership stays about the same as last year at 2,490.
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According to Ollerton, of the expenditures, $1.6 million was spent on Special Education, $125,000 was spent on the ELL (English Language Learner) program, $118,000 was spent on the Snowflake Junior High School vocational program and $345,000 was spent out of the annual budget on the Snowflake High School vocational program. “We spent an additional $383,000 of annual funds transporting special needs kids and an additional $70,000 went to transporting NAVIT (Northern Arizona Vocational Institute of Technology) kids,” summarized Ollerton. The report will be posted on the district’s website.
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Upon the approval of the financial report by the board, the board listened to another report from Ollerton detailing the impact of a lack of physical therapist at the district. The district has been actively looking for a new physical therapist since their previous one retired but has been unsuccessful in finding someone to fill the position since June of this year. The board approved a Request for Proposal for a physical therapist for the district and will continue the search.
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