Few Changes Reflected in Riverview Budget

After a quiet public hearing Monday evening, little has changed in the Riverview School Board’s preliminary budget, which includes a tax increase on par with what home owners have seen in the past few years.

The tax increase stood at 0.6336 mills Monday (about $63 for someone owning a $100,000 home), slightly below the 0.6386 figure in the preliminary . Since then, the board has also added a kindergarten teacher position and funding for a special education student.

Those additions total between $80,000 and $90,000, according to Business Manager Frank Thompson. But further trimming—in areas such as sewage, natural gas and auditorium spending—got rid of $106,000 in expenditures.

“These aren’t foolish line-item reductions,” said Superintendent Chuck Erdeljac. “We think they’re responsible ones.”

Erdeljac said the district is trying to balance its responsibilities to both students and taxpayers—by law, the board could raise the tax rate up to 0.98 mills. In the balancing act, the board has had to rein in spending on technology.

While the board has considered boosting technology spending by $45,000, it opted to keep the budget at $100,000, where it was last year. Board President John Hackworth said if that number stays the same, members should expect to increase funding next year.

“We are getting along in terms of the age of our equipment,” Hackworth said.

In order to pay for improvements now, Hackworth said, the board would have to or a higher tax increase. A closed session was held after the hearing to discuss personnel.

Erdeljac said declining enrollment at the secondary level is leading him to consider whether some elective courses might be trimmed. He wouldn’t go into detail during the public hearing.

He added that the board is committed to maintaining its current level of pupil services, such as nurses and guidance counselors, though to save money it might switch from having two state-certified nurses and one registered nurse to having one certified nurse and two RNs.

“We definitely have students with medical needs, and we want to be responsible to those,” Erdeljac said, adding that the change would comply with state guidelines.

While Monday’s meeting was intended to hear public comment, no one outside of the school offered opinions or suggestions.

Mike McNally, a teacher in the high school’s gifted program, praised the board’s dedication to academics and told members to call him if they have questions about any course’s value.

“I have no doubt that this school board will make decisions that you think are educationally sound,” McNally said.

According to Thompson, the board will bring a final budget to the table during the June 18 voting meeting. He stressed that unknown variables, such as whether the state includes funding for Accountability Block Grants in its budget, could further affect Riverview’s budget.

Currently, Riverview isn’t planning to receive money from those grants.

Looking to the future, both Thompson and Erdeljac found cause for optimism. They expect the properties to broaden the tax base, and a handful of commercial properties should bring in more tax revenue once they are on the books.

“The sky is not falling,” Erdeljac said. “We’re in pretty good fiscal standing.”

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