Budget Consultation
Public Consultation – SD73 Budget
The public, parent groups, local media and employee partner groups were shown details of the budget at a live streamed special board meeting on Thursday, April 8, 2021.
Comments and questions regarding the draft budget will be accepted until April 21, 2021 and posted to the Q & A below. Your comments and questions will be posted along with your first name and last initial.
All public and stakeholder input received will be presented to the Board on April 22. On April 26, at a regular Board Meeting, the Budget will come forward to the Board for a motion.
Please email your comments to budget feedback. All questions about the details of the draft budget will be posted here.
Q&A
| Q. The increase of 4.3% per FTE gives you an increase in operating revenue of $2,644,636 but the increase in teachers and support staff salaries is $2,679,903 for a shortfall of $35,256. This does not include the Health and Carbon Taxes which were previously covered by a separate grant. Can you tell me how much more these three items are this year vs the FTE increases? Can you also tell me the overall % of negative funding per FTE this actually becomes? Thanks - Chris P. |
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A: Most but not all of the per FTE funding categories in the 2021-2022 Operating Budget increased by 4.3%. Also, some of the Supplementary grants like Unique Geographic Factors were increased due to Climate and Distance factors determined by the Ministry of Education. In our initial analysis, if our enrolment was exactly the same next year as this year, overall, our revenue was down by $35,256, or approximately $2.40/FTE student. The increased cost of the Employer Health Tax – which replaces Medical Service Plan premiums has been phased into District budgets in 2019. Since that time, the District has increased the budget for annual salary increases with 2% costing approximately $50K per year. This amount will fluctuate as a percentage of total cost of salary increases. The Carbon Tax related grants were eliminated in 2020. Since then, the total carbon tax expense has been included in the Operating Budget as is estimated at $260,000. These costs are included in our budget and carry forward from previous years. The District applies for and receives capital funding from the Ministry as part of the Carbon Neutral Capital Plan program and the approved projects fund our HVAC upgrade costs which in turn reduce the District’s overall carbon footprint. |
| Q. This year's Budget is $7 million less than last year. Can you tell me if any programs or staff have been cut or reduced to get the budget closer to a balanced situation? - Chris P. |
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A: In 2020-2021, the District received one time Special Purpose funding from the Ministry of Education (Provincial/Federal Safe Return to School/Class Funds) as a result of COVID-19. These funds were utilitzed as directed by hiring an additional 17 custodians to increase contact cleaning and frequency for high touch surfaces, as well as the addition of term certain teaching positions at elementary, secondary and the District’s Distributed Learning Program. This funding assisted District’s in mitigating the effects of COVID-19 by implementing PHO Health and Safety Protocols, purchasing of masks, hand sanitizer, barriers, and Merv-13 HVAC air filters, just to name a few. The district added 17 custodial positions late in 2020-2021 and have included those positions in the 2021-2022 Operating Fund on a go forward basis. The term certain teaching positions are scheduled to end at June 30 2021 when the funding ceases. These Special Purpose Funds are not available for 2021-2022. |
| Q. You explained where the funds come from for the Operating and Special Purpose Funds but not the Capital Fund. Where does the Capital Funds come from? Chris P. |
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A: Funding for Local Capital projects comes from: • Transfer of Operating Surplus to Local Capital • The sale of land or land and buildings where the District can demonstrate it is the owner, or partial owner of the property when it was acquired. • Sale of equipment or vehicles • Interest income on the balance of funds held in Local Capital. |
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