Slightly less revenue from local sources means a lean budget for the Columbia School District.
At a public hearing June 28, Business Manager Kim Rogers spoke about the numbers for the 2019 budget as compared to 2018. No members of the public attended the hearing.
“The district maintenance money is the money that we have some flexibility with,” Rogers said. “The rest of the money comes in the form of grants often meant for specific areas. We are at the 55-mil cap, so we are not asking for an increase.”
In state funding, the MAEP funding netted the district a small increase of $43,000 but local revenues were actually down $40,600 from $3,874,325 in 2018. State sources will provide $6,034,561 .
The 2019 instruction budget is $74,260 less than last year at $5,660,545. General administration costs are also down $39,434 to $248,840. Rogers said changes in personnel accounted for the difference.
This year’s total budget for the Columbia School District is $10,215,103.
“It’s a lot of bang for the buck,” Board Vice President Rene Dungan said.
Rogers also took a look back at district accomplishments in 2018.
“We renamed the street Wildcat Way,” she said. “We now have the Columbia School District car tags, our contracts with Brown Bottling, Hattiesburg Clinic and Adidas were part of it and we’ve also improved community and city relations. I’m very proud of where we are.”
Dungan said she was pleased with the budget.
“I just think it demonstrates such a well rounded district,” she said. “It targets the arts; we targeted pre-K, we targeted technology, we targeted instruction and we targeted athletics. Thank you for working so hard and making sure all the bases were covered. We’re making great strides.”
