Section IV - Summary of Budget Revenues
Budget Overview **DRAFT** Last edited March 9, 2020
While Section I of this overview details the major drivers and priorities of the entire budget, this section summarizes the most significant year-to-year changes in revenues. Full detail of expenditures can be found in the Program Budget Detail section.
1. Town/School Partnership Revenue: Estimated $(525,467)
a. Forecast adjustments to FY 21 from original projection (Fall 2017) are the result of the Town developing their budget and adjusting for
fluctuations in the following areas:
i. New Growth Estimates were reduced over the time period between the original projection and the Town/School Partnership for FY
20 and FY 21. Both fiscal years were negatively impacted by the reduction of New Growth.
ii. Pensions, Workers Compensation, and Medicare: The reconciliation of known retirees, workers compensation, and Medicare costs
resulted in a revenue decrease due to the need to increase the Retirement, Workers Compensation, and Medicate accounts for FY
21. The school department’s share of the Pension liability went from 25% to 26%.
iii. Refuse and Sanitation Budget: An increase in the overall Refuse and Sanitation budget resulted in reducing school allocation of
revenue by the Town/School Partnership.
iv. The final and much smaller portion of the revenue reduction is the school portion of budget growth in all Town shared expenses as
part of the Town/School Partnership Document.
v. Health Insurance: The GIC Plan changes that occurred as part of the open enrollment period and the reconciliation of new plan
participants resulted in a reduction in funding of the Health Insurance Benefit Line.
2. School Department Revenue Changes since 4/23/18: Net $(226,518)
a. Materials Fee/Tuition Account: No change in Revenue Projection (+$22,152)
b. Circuit Breaker: Updated to Budget Current Year (FY120) Reimbursement (+$282,842)
c. Revolving Fund Reimbursement: Transfer and offset no longer allowed, expenses removed related personnel from operating budget
and the Revenue Offset (-$150,680) and moved expenses to Rental of Facilities Account.
d. Other Revenue: Eliminated as FY18 budget closing confirmed there is no funding source identified or available for this offset
(-$358,650).
The Public Schools of Brookline allocation from the Annual Town Meeting for FY 2021 is $123,361,138 an increase of $5,976,032 over FY20 STM vote. The revenues available to fund the budget request are $751,985 less than projected as part of the 2018 override and net $1,025,723 less than what is needed.
School Department Revenues
The terms below define the lines in the above revenue chart that will be completed after the February 8 Town partnership Meeting.
General Fund Appropriation: Sources of funds are tax levy and additional local receipts.
Tuition and Fees: The Materials Fee program began in the 1960s. The School Committee policy publishes rates back to 1987-1988 school year. It is a program that has been maintained and currently provides for 199 students of Town and School Department employees. All participating employees use payroll reduction for material fee payments unless they choose to pay in full in advance of the school year. FY2020 revenue is projected at $505,000. A reduction due to revenue being categorized as general fund local receipts. In addition, the district is part of a one-year SEVIS/Student Exchange Program and charges tuition.
Circuit Breaker Funding: The Circuit Breaker reimbursement for FY 2020 ($1,910,814; 75% reimbursement rate) serves as the base to calculate the FY 2021 revenue estimate. This practice began in FY 2019, when the district removed an additional $500,000 from the Circuit Breaker account to reflect that all prior year reserves have been expended in balancing the FY 2017 and FY 2018 budgets. All reserves in this account have been expended and will be applied in the fiscal year received.
Circuit Breaker funds are recurring funds, but are subject to change each fiscal year. The amount per student that qualifies for reimbursement can change dramatically from one year to the next depending on prior-year actual circuit breaker eligible expenditures. The other change that occurs is the funding level provided by the legislature to this account. FY 20 will see an expansion of circuit breaker reimbursement as Transportation will be included for the first time. It is unknown what the financial impact will be for reimbursement for future years.
History: During FY 2004, the Circuit Breaker Reimbursement Program replaced a program referred to as the 50/50 account, where the State paid 50% of the residential tuitions directly to the residential school in which the placement had been made, and the school district paid the remaining 50%. The current program reimburses a school district for students with disabilities who require individual education program (IEP) services that cost greater than four times the statewide foundation budget. In FY 2005, the state shifted from a pay‐as you go reimbursement program for residential tuitions to a broader‐based, but still‐partial, special education reimbursement program. The 2004 legislation expanded the types of expenditures eligible for reimbursement. Each year, there is a potential for a change in the percentage of reimbursement utilized by the State within the Special Education Circuit Breaker Account.
Subject to appropriation, the state’s Circuit Breaker Fund reimburses the school district, for up to 75% of in‐district and out‐of-district student costs, which exceed four times the per pupil foundation amount. The state sets this amount annually as part of the annual state budget deliberations. Historically, the reimbursement rate has been between 35‐75%. The district does not know the actual reimbursement rate for the fiscal year until after it submits its annual claim in July for the prior fiscal year expenditure activity. Eligible costs include instructional services, various types of therapies, and specialized equipment. Circuit Breaker specifically excludes transportation and building infrastructure costs. All Circuit Breaker funds received go into the Circuit Breaker Revolving Account, do not require further appropriation, and must be expended by the following June 30th.
Revolving Fund Reimbursement : This revenue offset has been removed for FY 2020. It was intended to cover overhead costs associated with supporting fee-based programs operating under the authority of the School Committee. However, these costs should be charged directly to the specific revolving fund that generates the expense in accordance with statutory regulations and the Division of Local Services, Department Of Revenue. The district has removed this as an offset and moved expenditures in the operating budget to these funds for direct payment by the fund.
Other Revenue: Other Revenue was supposed to reflect the offset of one-time and non-recurring revenue that can be applied to the upcoming fiscal year. However, one-time funds are general fund receipts in accordance with statutory regulations and the Division of Local Services, Department Of Revenue, and should not be in any type of School Committee account under the rules provided by Chapter 71 or Chapter 40 and 44. If there are identifiable funds to which the expenditures should be charged, the expenses are noted as being transferred to those funds. FY 2020 removes this line as an offset as there are no revenue sources identified. Should one-time funds be received, they will be handled as required and outlined by municipal finance law.
General Fund Fee Summaries
Revolving Fund Fee Summaries