Racine Unified Report: Move Over Budget, Increased Long-Term Savings

The latest financial report from shows the district is technically over budget by $284,170 on its project to move the Administrative Service Center.

Yet new numbers released Nov. 21 show an estimated 20-year net savings of about $11.14 million on the project, compared with a prior estimate of about $9.46 million in savings, an increase of $1.69 million.

The report helps paint a more accurate picture of the cost of the move from 2220 Northwestern Ave. to 3109 Mt. Pleasant St. All departments were relocated by late September.

Racine Unified Chief Financial Officer Dave Hazen presented the report to the school board at its meeting on Nov. 21.

“In the long run, this will help us spend less money on the Central Office, and more money in the classroom,” Hazen told the board.

While some aspects of the project cost more than originally anticipated, there were savings and additional efficiencies that were identified over the course of the project. Build out costs for the new building, for example, came in $26,671 less than expected.

Costs to upgrade the building’s server room, however, cost $106,273 more than expected, partly due to an expansion of the project that was deemed to better serve the district in the long run. An addition to an existing building to serve as the maintenance garage also cost an extra $148,623.

In total, the district budgeted $5.95 million in expenditures and actually spent about $6.33 million. The district expects to realize about $593,148 in revenue from the project, including an additional $93,148 in revenues from the sale of scrap metal as well as a tax escrow and title company credit. The sale of the old ASC netted $500,000.

An original feasibility study counted that $500,000 as revenue for the total project, but the revenue the district will realize is now currently about $215,830, given the $377,318 overage in expenditures.

Those numbers reflect totals through Oct. 31. An additional $100,582 in encumbrances still has to be reflected on the district’s balance sheet.

Revenue that figures into long-term savings was realized from the lease of the district’s old Diagnostic Center to the Sisters of St. Dominic for $30,000 per year when staff was moved to the new ASC. That move also freed an additional $50,481 per year in administrative costs to run the center.

District staff will continue to search for additional efficiencies, Hazen said. That could include such things as reducing the number of printers, copiers and fax machines at the ASC, reducing the number of office supplies and streamlining warehouse equipment.

The intangibles of the move, Hazen said, are already being felt.

“This building has already made a difference in our operations,” Hazen said. “This is a much more pleasant work environment. Employees are happier. Anecdotally, parents come in and they say they notice the differences.”