Treasurer: Aaron Johnson
The Treasurer oversees and works the financial operations and services of the district, including the accounting processes and procedures, budgeting, forecasting, investing, business management, auditing, financial reporting, banking, and communications. The Treasurer is a licensed individual with the State of Ohio, and reports to the Fairbanks Board of Education, serving as the financial officer and resource of the district.
Message from the Treasurer:
School Finance UpdateAs you probably are aware, the district had a very important renewal levy on the ballot in November 2008. This was a five-year emergency levy for district operations. This levy represents approximately 17% of our total budget, and is a very important piece in continuing the existing services and programs for the Fairbanks' students. As the State of Ohio continues to place a significant amount of responsibility on local communities to fund their schools, this renewal levy continues to be a very important component to the operation of the school system. It is no secret that it takes community support to have a great district, and the Fairbanks' community certainly supports their school system.
Although a 5-year capital improvement (non-operating) levy is planned for renewal in November 2010, no operating levies are planned for the next three years, until the renewal comes back up.
On the downside, our state funding has been relatively flat for several years now, with no additional aid being received from the state to operate the school system. And we currently are receiving slight reductions to our state funding, with a 1% reduction this year, and a 2% reduction scheduled for next year. Further, there are "rumblings" that schools could possibly receive significant cuts to their funding starting in 2011. This leads to some concern to the state's ability, in the future, to hold funding for local schools. We are also, from the current economic climate, seeing current decreases of 9.8% (compared to prior year) year-to-date in our district income tax.
Steps have been taken to control and reduce costs district-wide, and ensure value from the resources we have been given.
We have and continue to evaluate operational expenditures, with the continuing goal of optimizing the efficiency and effectiveness of the district. Initially, starting with the 2008-09 school year, we implemented budget reductions and savings of over $270,000.
We have also been able to save over $219,000 in health/dental insurance premiums over the last four years through changes within our insurance consortium and trust. Initial stages of a health care plan redesign have begun to further control health care costs, as well as the implementation of recent "state mandated" health care best practices, all with the continuing goal of controlling the cost of health insurance.
This past year, through new staffing changes, we were able to reduce our yearly personnel expenditures by over $96,000.
And for 2010-11, further staffing changes and reductions should save over $100,000 per year.
With these recent changes and reductions, we hope to save over $1,000,000 during the next five years.
In summary, the district's current (1-2 years) financial condition is somewhat stable. But there will continue to be real challenges long-term (3-5 years), as the economy, and the State of Ohio, struggle to provide current resources for schools to educate and serve their students.
Aaron Johnson
Treasurer
Please find available to you on this web page a schedule of revenues, expenditures, and changes in fund balances for the past three years (actual) and five-years' projected for the Fairbanks Local School District. Also included is some general information and assumptions to help one understand the financial operations of the Fairbanks Local School District.
Download the current five year forecast in pdf format. [Posted Aug 15, 2011]
Download the Financial Statements for Fiscal Year 2011 in pdf format. [Updated Jan. 11, 2012]
