The Gilbert Public Schools Governing Board approved the district’s first revised budget for fiscal year 2024-25 Feb. 4 with an increase of $5.57 million in the maintenance and operations budget limit and $5.58 million in unrestricted capital.
Although the district is not required to revise the budget at this time, GPS officials opted to do so following the final recalculation of the fiscal year 2024 budget. The revision reflects updated student counts, additional state funding and interest earnings that have bolstered the district’s financial outlook.
“After the final recalculation of FY 24, we find it beneficial to capture some of those new numbers,” said GPS Finance Director Jackie Mattinen, who called the news “exciting.”
A key factor in the revised budget is an increase in student enrollment. Initially, GPS had estimated a loss of 1,200 students for FY 2025. However, updated figures show that enrollment has stabilized at 30,065, reflecting an increase of 358 students from previous projections.
“This is really something to celebrate,” Mattinen said, emphasizing the importance of accurate student counts in determining district funding.
The revised figures led to an increase in the district’s weighted student count by 487, which in turn contributed to a $2.7 million boost in M&O revenue.
Additionally, the district was able to avoid a previously planned $2 million transfer from capital funds to M&O, further improving financial flexibility.
Another major factor in the revised budget is a higher-than-expected budget balance carryforward. The district carried forward an additional $3.96 million from the previous year’s budget, increasing the M&O budget by $5.57 million to $293.21 million.
The unrestricted capital budget also increased from $50.62 million to $56.2 million as a result of not having to make the transfer of capital funds to M&O and a stronger budget balance carryforward than anticipated.
Interest earnings have also played a role in strengthening GPS’s financial position. The district employs a strategy in which revenue from state and local sources is first deposited into interest-bearing accounts before being allocated for capital expenditures.
“We created a strategy where all of the revenue we received from the state and the local taxpayer first goes into unrestricted capital so that we’re maximizing that interest earnings,” Associate Superintendent Bonnie Betz said. “As you know, in M&O, we do not receive interest. We can’t spend it in unrestricted capital, but we receive interest, and we can spend it.”
As a result of this approach, the district earned $1.17 million in interest on capital funds, exceeding the previously estimated $1 million.
Despite the positive financial outlook, GPS officials remain cautious about potential funding changes at the state level.
“We budget, but we’re always concerned this time of year when the legislature rolls through,” Superintendent Shane McCord said. “We’re working off the governor’s budget, and we know it’s a wish list more than anything, but then it has to go all the way through the state legislature.”
District administrators assured the board that their approach remains conservative, ensuring financial stability even in the face of uncertain legislative decisions.
Officials anticipate a carryforward of approximately $20 million, which will help the district prepare for any unexpected changes in state funding.
“We believe philosophically that we should make sure that you guys are up to date throughout the year so you know how much money we do have available, and that when we're doing our projections for next year, we're starting from the base that you already know about,” Betz said. “As you can see, our budget across the board has increased substantially, and you all should be aware of that.”
We would like to invite our readers to submit their civil comments, pro or con, on this issue. Email AZOpinions@iniusa.org. Tom Blodgett can be reached by email at tblodgett@iniusa.org or follow him @sp_blodgett on X.
Meet Tom Tom Blodgett joined Independent Newsmedia, Inc., USA, in 2022, when the company acquired Community Impact Newspaper's Phoenix-area properties. Raised in Arizona, he has spent more than 35 years in journalism in the state.
Community: He has served as an instructional professional in the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication since 2005, and is editorial adviser to The State Press, the university's independent student media outlet. He also is director of operations for an 18U girls fastpitch softball team from Gilbert.
Education: Arizona State University with a BS in Journalism.
Random Fact: He lived in Belgium during his freshman year of high school.
Hobbies: Tweeting enthusiastically about ASU softball (season-ticket holder) and grumpily about other local sports (pessimistic fan).
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