Cedar Rapids school district's revenues exceed expenditures

The Cedar Rapids school district's 2010-11 revenues exceed expenditures, according to fiscal highlights presented to school board members Monday.

Steve Graham, the district's executive director of business services, stressed that the information is un-audited at this time.

The audit is in progress and will be finished by the Dec. 31 deadline. Graham said results from the audit will be presented to the board in January.

Total revenues for the 2010-11 school year were $285.6 million, with nearly $189 million in the district's general fund.

The majority of general fund revenues came from the state ($91.1 million), followed by local ($76.1 million), federal ($18.2 million) and other ($2.5 million) sources.

Federal revenues were higher than usual because of American Recovery and Reinvestment Act stimulus finds.

The district's SILO (school infrastructure local option) fund also was larger than usual – $57.9 million – because it included $42.1 million in debt proceeds. Graham said these proceeds are the primary reason for revenues exceeding expenditures.

“We had a significant amount of debt sales,” Graham said.

Total expenditures were nearly $269 million for 2010-11. Almost $185 million were general fund expenditures, the majority of which (80 percent) were salaries and benefits.

“We're heavily intense in human resources,” Graham said.

A new board member and three incumbents took the oath of office at Monday's meeting.

John Laverty, Mary Meisterling and Ann Rosenthal were re-elected to the school board earlier this month. Allen Witt is the board's new face.

Laverty and Meisterling also were re-elected board president and vice president, respectively.