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www.insideHALTON.com | OAKVILLE BEAVER | Thursday, May 30, 2013 | 16 POOL HEATER REPAIR ER MANUFACTUR ICE TRAINED SERV S AN CI NI CH TE Deficit is in the offing by Tim Whitnell Metroland West Media WE SERVICE & CARRY PARTS FOR: TD LAARS, JANDY, HAYWARD, RAYPAK, PENT AIR, MINI MAX, STA-RITE Since 1982 Solving Problems 416-483-9777 905-845-0701 Experience is the difference! Email:scott@gasfix.ca The Halton Catholic District School Board is projected to have a deficit between $1.5 million and $2.5M as deliberations continue on the 2013-14 budget. Despite an expected increase in revenue for the next school year, expenses are outpacing the financial gains putting the board in a position that it must find ways to trim costs. Ontario school boards are mandated by law either to pass a balanced budget or one that is considered `compliant' -- the latter meaning a budget that has no more than one per cent in spending beyond a balanced budget. The board's total revenue for 2013-14, the vast majority of it coming through Ministry of Education pupil and capital funding grants, is projected to be $331.4M, a $10.4M (3.2 per cent) increase from the previous year. The board's projected expenses for next year are $332.9M, an $11.9M (3.7%) increase. The year-over-year increase, say board staff, is mainly a result of increases in staff salaries related to the expansion of the full day Kindergarten program and the opening of new schools, but also due to things such as utilities and transportation costs. Majority is salaries and benefits The major portion of a school board's overall expenses are staff salaries and benefits. Stacey Zucker, the board's financial services senior administrator, told trustees at the May 21 board meeting that the projected deficit range is a worst-case scenario. She said the 2013-14 projected budget deficit could be as low as $1.5M if $1M in new board initiatives are not included in the '13-14 expenses. Senior staff will re-consider the initiatives, which were not detailed in the May 21 board meeting report. There are other ways to mitigate the deficit, said Zucker, suggesting a possible combination of cuts, to services like deferring building maintenance, department spending reductions, not filling vacant jobs, redeploying staff to minimize hiring or using reserve funds. The board's reserve fund is projected to have about a $1 million surplus by the end of the 2012-13 budget year. "Last year's budget was a compliant budget; we are expected to use some of our reserves from 2012-13," to reduce that deficit, said Zucker. "We are usually very conservative in our budgeting," she noted. "It's only in the last couple of years we've had (to go with) compliant budgets." Board staff will bring spending savings recommendations to trustees at the June 4 board meeting.