City schools projecting $31.67M in general fund revenues

Published 2:44 pm Friday, September 10, 2021

The Cullman City School System got the first look at the upcoming year’s budget during a special called meeting Thursday morning.

Cullman City Schools Chief Finance Officer James Brumley presented the budget during the first of two required budget hearings that will be held before the board votes for its approval.

The system should be seeing a total of $31.67 million in general fund revenues for the upcoming year, with $17.89 million of that coming from state sources and $13.4 million coming from local sources.

Brumley said the local ad valorem tax and sales tax revenues increased from last year by around $700,000, and he is projecting the system will see another increase over the next year.

“It’s doing very well,” he said.

Expenditures for the general fund are projected at $32.43 million, with $18.6 of that going to instructional services and $4.8 million going to instructional support services — making up most of the system’s payroll and benefits. The budget also projects $3.97 million spent on operations and maintenance and $1.6 million spent on administrative services.

Brumley said the system will have a total of 381.23 full-time personnel units, with 216 teachers, five librarians, seven counselors, 15 administrators and 136 support personnel.

State funding sources will pay for 270.15 personnel units, with federal money paying for 80 units and local sources paying for 31 units.

At the end of the 2021-2022 fiscal year, the system is projected to have an ending general fund balance of $8.2 million, which amounts to three months of operating reserve, Brumley said.

He also gave an update on the ongoing and upcoming capital projects for the system, including the replacement of the Cullman High School gym’s bleachers that should be completed before basketball season, adding restrooms to the school’s tennis courts, installing turf on the softball field, building a maintenance building, renovating the Cullman Middle School cafeteria, performing maintenance on the CHS c-building’s roof and installing new remote access entry systems at each school campus.

West Elementary School currently has classrooms closed due to the discovery of mold that came from a faulty HVAC system, and an engineer has been out to the school to begin planning an upgrade for the system to ensure it does not happen again.

There is not yet a price estimate for that project, but the system will be able to use federal funding from the CARES Act to pay for it because it will be improving the air quality of the school, Brumley said.

The system is also in the planning stages for a projected $11 million addition and renovation at Cullman Primary School and a projected $23 million project for addition and renovation at Cullman Middle School, he said.

The Cullman City School Board’s second budget hearing will be on Monday at 5 p.m. in the Central Office Board Room.