Bartholomew Consolidated School Corp. will see a nearly $2 million increase in its 2020 budget compared to this year’s budget.
School board members voted to approve the annual budget Monday at the October board meeting at Mt. Healthy Elementary School.
The $117 million budget includes $49.3 million in employee salaries, a 1.65% increase from the 2019 budget, and $19.8 million in benefits, including health costs, which is an 8.2% increase from this year’s budget. Salaries and benefits would make up about 97% of estimated expenditures — every other area of the corporation’s education fund, including supplies, property and equipment, would likely see cuts, according to figures presented during the meeting.
The increase in health costs is, in large part, being driven by health claims and prescription medication costs, said Phillips.
The school corporation is self-funded for health insurance costs.
Health expenses rose 14% from Jan. 1 to July 31 — the largest increase since 2016, according to figures presented during the meeting. The school corporation struggled to pay healthcare claims during the last two weeks of August, which totaled roughly $1 million, Phillips said.
Phillips said a 15% increase in employee premiums and expected reimbursements for large claimants should help offset much of health expenses incurred throughout the rest of the year.
As of late September, Phillips told the board the health trust fund is back in positive territory and the district has had three weeks in a row, where it was able to pay all of its claims on time after generating enough revenue.
About 30 percent of the budget is dedicated to the district’s operations fund, 10.5% will contribute to the debt service fund, just over 5% is dedicated to the referendum debt fund and about .27% of the budget will go to the school pension debt.
The school board also approved a $995,000 bond to purchase new laptops for students, teachers and staff.
The district plans to spend just over $586,000 to purchase laptops for next year’s estimated 997 incoming freshmen, and 373 devices for teachers and staff at a cost of almost $314,000.
The bond will be paid off in a single year, Phillips said. He predicts that taxpayers will see no impact from the new bond because of rising assessed property values.
