The budget for the 2022-23 academic school year — which includes an additional $500,000 from oil and gas tax revenue and an increase in school lunch prices — was unanimously approved July 18.

The budget received  $500,000 more than its expected $1.4 million in oil and natural gas tax revenue. Because of an increase in oil and gas prices, the companies paid taxes in June — prior to the July start of the fiscal year. Consequently, the expenditures in the district budget for 2022-23 appear to be greater than its revenue. 

But Business Services Coordinator Mary Jo Lewis, who presented the budget to the board, clarified that is not the case. 

“We’re not passing a negative overall budget.  We have ‘x’ amount of dollars to make up the difference between revenue and expenditures,” Lewis said,

Additionally, an increase in students’ meal prices was approved as part of the budget, necessitated by milk and egg prices, which continue to increase drastically. 

Reduced meal prices will stay the same at 30 cents for breakfast and 40 cents for lunch, while regularly priced meals will experience a bump of 75 cents for breakfast and lunch for students and a $1 increase for adults. Additional milk will cost 60 cents. 

The previous meal prices for students were $1.40 for elementary school breakfast and $2.60 for elementary school lunches;  $1.65 for middle school and high school breakfast and $2.85 for middle school and high school lunches; and $1.90 for adult breakfast and $3.60 for adult lunches.

The total budget revenues for the 2022-23 school year are $27,137,780. Last year’s budgeted total revenue was $28,571,240. 

Expenditures for the 2022-23 academic year are $29,719,510. 

“The thing I want to make most clear is that we are very financially stable — as we have been historically,” Superintendent Jay Curtis said.  “All of the decisions we have made are very clearly living within our means.”

Mill levies (tax rates based on the value of the property) to be paid by the school district are as follows: 25 mills for district tax; six mills for county tax; 1 mill for the recreation district and .5 mills for Powell Valley Community Education.

The mills for the district tax and county tax are required according to law, but the school board approves the additional mills each year.

Lewis said that PCSD1 is in “excellent financial condition” and the district is always looking to provide the best education resources by ‘looking across all funds.’” Lewis added that in doing this, trustees look to supplement the general fund with federal funds.  

The public can view the budget in its entirety by going to pcsd1.org.

(Seth Romsa contributed reporting.)