Richland Two School Board approves allocations of budget surplus

At the March 23, 2021 board meeting, the Richland School District Two Board of Trustees approved the administration’s proposal to allocate the $11.3 million surplus from the Fiscal Year 2019-20 General Fund Budget. The allocations include:

• a one-time bonus of $1,580 to all full-time permanent employees and $789 to all part-time permanent employees (roughly $1,000 and $500 after taxes, respectively). The estimated cost of this investment is $6,450,000, which includes related fringe.
• a one-time transfer of $3.5 million for the Building Fund to help lessen the impact on taxpayers for the funding of annual capital improvement expenditures.

At the February 23, 2021 board meeting, the district’s auditor presented the Comprehensive Annual Financial Report based on an audit of the Fiscal Year 2019-20 General Fund Budget. The auditor reported that the district ended the budget year with an $11.6 million surplus. These two allocations from the $11,300,000 total $9,950,000 with the remaining $1,350,000 of the surplus going to the fund balance.

“In years past, any budget surplus was rolled into the district’s Fund Balance. However, similar to last year, the board approved a large portion of the surplus to invest in the district’s future,” said James Manning, Richland Two School Board Chair.  “Part of this investment includes bonuses to our faculty and employees who have provided invaluable services to our students as we have navigated the unique circumstances created by a world-wide pandemic. The proposal also invests in maintaining the district’s financial security and minimizing future impacts on the local taxpayer for school building maintenance.  These investments support our district’s strategic plan, mission and vision.”