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AKRON - The Tippecanoe Valley School Corp. Board of Trustees approved superintendent Daniel Kramer's budget proposal for advertisement Tuesday. They faced the same problem as other area school boards: They have not yet received their tax revenue for 2003 and 2004 from the state. "It's almost like we're two years behind and we have to predict what we're going to need for the coming year," said Kramer.
Kramer expects reductions to the proposed plan, especially in the general, transportation and capital projects funds. He assured board members that he intends to control spending. "From my perspective, we don't want to spend any more than we can bring in with revenue," he said.
Kramer also said Tippecanoe Valley School Corp.'s tax levies are below the caps set by the state and he wants to minimize increases as much as possible. "Just because we aren't at the cap doesn't mean we want to be there, and I think we should do everything we can to not get there," he told the board.
The following are the total budget estimates approved for advertisement: preschool special education fund, $46,750, down $11,000 from 2003; debt service fund, $1,750,000, up $15,448; capital projects fund, $1,622,285, up $495,344; transportation operating fund, $1,049,100, up $19,923; bus replacement fund, $182,487, up $66,623; general fund, $12,818,037, up $133,127. The budget hearing will be held Aug. 25 at 7:30 p.m. at the Mentone Elementary School public meeting room.
In other business, the board approved hiring Mentone Elementary teachers Ashley Warner and Cathy Olson.
Board members present were president Mark Wise, vice president Hal Hoffman, Rod Eaton, David O'Brien. Absent was Bryan Murphy. The next school board meeting is Monday at 7:30 p.m. at the Mentone Elementary public meeting room.
