Audit: WBS total fund balance dipped by $7.5M

The West Bloomfield Schools Board of Education accepted an audit report by Plante & Moran for the 2011-12 school year presented at the Monday, Sept. 24 board meeting.

According to the report, the district’s combined fund balance at the end of the year was $12.5 million, a decrease of $7.5 million from the previous year.

However, the general fund balance increased by $1.3 million to $1.8 million, which Plante & Moran reported was accomplished due to budget reductions and cost-cutting measures implemented by the board and administration for the 2011-12 school year. Those measures included negotiated changes in salaries, wages and benefits of all district employees.

The firm added that other budget adjustments included staff reductions of 36 positions and the district’s implementation of a four-tier transportation system for students attending both elementary and secondary schools.

Plante & Moran also stated that budgeted revenue in the district’s general fund increased by $1.07 million due to increases in local, state, federal and interdistrict sources of revenue.

General fund expenditures were increased by $1.68 million to include changes in staffing, compensation, health insurance, mandatory retirement payments, and collective bargaining settlements.

Plante & Moran also stated that the district’s final amended budget and actual amounts as of June 30 showed a net increase in revenue of $26,189 and a decrease in expenditures of $1.2 million, with the overall reduction in expenditures brought about by districtwide cost containment and collective bargaining agreement settlements, reduced energy consumption and a reduction in Michigan Tax Tribunal settlements.

The report pegs the district’s general fund revenue as of June 30 at $66.67 million.

The majority of the district’s general fund revenue consisted of $47.94 million coming from state sources, followed by $13.25 million from local sources.

General fund expenditures totaled $66 million, with the majority of the expenditures consisting of $52.2 million going toward instruction, followed by $10.6 million toward operations, maintenance, business and transportation.

At the same meeting, the board also approved the closure of Ealy Elementary School in the fall of 2013, along with converting Doherty Elementary School into a facility for students in kindergarten through second-grade and Sheiko Elementary into a building for students in third- through fifth-grade.

Total potential savings for the district from those changes are expected to total $725,000.