Benton Harbor Area Schools is heading into the next school year with a budget that anticipates transferring $7.4 million out of the district fund balance to operate.
The board of education on June 26 held a hearing to go over the next budget. Superintendent Kelvin Butts told trustees the spending plan anticipates expenditures of $31.8 million and revenues of $24.4 million. However, board President Dashuna Robinson said that may create a misleading narrative.
“You may see media reports that indicate that we’re $7.4 million in the red, similarly to how they did recently with Lakeshore Public Schools,” Robinson said. “So that narrative will be out there. But like you all said, it’s important for the public to understand that that just means that we are taking that $7.4 million from general fund and essentially spending more than we’re receiving in that particular year. But it does not mean that we are broke.”
Butts said the district has a fund balance of $24.8 million right now, giving it some room to maneuver.
“Benton Harbor has a huge fund balance,” Butts said. “We have money in the bank. We have a structural imbalance, which means our expenditures exceed our revenues…at this present time.”
Butts stressed the difference between a structural deficit and a general fund deficit. He said the district will have to make adjustments moving forward to right the balance on the structural side, possibly by attracting more students.
Trustees were also told the district has total assets of $45 million.
