Week 3, Part 4

In Belton ISD, local revenue makes up 35.7% of the district’s M&O budget. The local revenue is made up of local tax collections (our M&O Rate is at the maximum $1.17), interest earnings, gate receipts from athletic and fine arts events, tuition paid for summer school and transfer students into the district, and rent collected for use of district facilities. We are a property poor school district and most of our funding comes from state aide which makes up 63.7% of the total revenue. The remaining portion of the budget comes from federal grants such as Title I funds and IDEA part B. The budget priorities for the district which were approved by the board of trustees are: improvement of instruction, improving student achievement, maintaining instructional priorities and programs, maintaining comparable salaries, implementing and monitoring well-designed processes, and maintaining efficient operations. The expenditures in Belton ISD seem to line up well with the stated goals with approximately $55 million of the $66 million budget used to pay for salaries, instructional materials, professional development and other items that have a direct impact on instruction with students. Historical data tells us that approximately 82% of our district budget is expended for salaries and benefits of personnel, so there is not a great deal of discretionary spending relative to the total budget. Funds allocated to the district for a particular purpose are expended on those targeted programs. For example, the total expenditures to support child nutrition services were $3.8 million while funding from state and federal sources totaled only $2.2 million. M&O expenditures in order by amount appear to align with the stated budget goals in order of precedence.