District’s finances look good

New Hampton Superintendent Jay Jurrens delivered the School Board some good news last week when it came to the district’s finances.Jurrens reported during last week’s board meeting that New Hampton added almost $350,000 to its unspent spending authority balance during the 2015-16 school year, which basically means the district spent less than it was authorized to do by state law.“Our finances look good, and I think that’s something all of us — the board, the administration and our staff — has had a hand in,” Jurrens said. “We feel like we’re in a good position right now.”The district’s unspent spending authority balance was almost $1.14 million on July 1, 2015 and increased to a little more than $1.48 million  on July 1, 2016.Jurrens said a good rule for schools is to have their unspent spending authority balances be between 10 to 15 percent of its annual spending, and he said New Hampton’s is at about 12 percent heading into the 2016-17 fiscal year that started on July 1.Under state law, districts can carry over their unspent spending authority balance from year to year.For example, if a district is authorized to spend $10 million and only spends $9.5 million, it can add $500,000 to its unspent balance.Districts use the balance in a variety of ways, and Jurrens has said in the past that having a healthy balance gives New Hampton a “cushion” in case of emergencies and can help “soften” the blow in a year when the district’s enrollment dramatically declines or the Legislature approves a less-than-expected increase to state supplemental funding.Asked about this year’s enrollment by Board Member Tim Denner, Jurrens said the district, as of last Monday, is down two students from a year ago.For the complete story see the 9/27/2016 New Hampton Tribune.