In Part 2, we described the various Funds that school district Revenue passes through. In this Part, we will explore the various expenses the district incurs to provide education for the community.
Salaries
By far the largest expense for the district is paying its employees wages. This includes pay for teachers, assistants, administrators, maintenance personnel, and all other employees.
Benefits
The district offers benefits to union and non-union employees. This category also includes the employer portion of the Federal payroll tax, employer-paid insurance premiums, and employer-paid retirement contributions.
Services
Not everyone who serves the school district is an employee. The district purchases professional services from contracted service providers, attorneys, auditors, etc. This category also includes expenses like utilities and transportation costs.
Supplies
Supplies include all the “stuff” the district uses that are not considered larger “capital” purchases. This includes everything from textbooks to food.
Equipment & Capital Improvements
This category includes larger “capital” purchases (ex: a new heating system for a school), land purchases, and building construction/renovation costs.
Scholarships
The district issues scholarships for some paid-services.
Other
This category encompasses the expenses that don’t fit neatly into other categories such as dues, memberships, licenses and sales tax. The largest Other expenditure for the district is debt repayment.
(Fund Growth)
Note this section of the budget graph at the top of this page is not an actual “expense” but is just needed to make the flowchart work correctly for funds where revenue exceeds expenses in a given year. The Construction Fund is the primary reason for this category, because the district receives money at the start of a project but doesn’t finish paying for multi-year construction projects until the project is done (which leaves some money “unspent” after the first year). However, the district may be contractually or legally obligated to spend the “Fund Growth” on a specific expense in the future.