ASHLAND – Ashland City Schools board of education voted Wednesday to approve new contracts for the district treasurer and five other administrators.
Three year contracts were awarded to treasurer Sue Guthrie, Taft and middle school assistant principal Tim Keller, Edison principal Krist Manley, Taft principal Steve Paramore, district curriculum director Linda McKibben and high school assistant principal Jon Walter. The contracts are effective August 2019.
According to the resolution to re-employ the treasurer, Guthrie will receive her current salary of $84,000, plus an “increase to be determined.”
Salaries for each of the other administrators were listed on the board’s agenda as “to be determined.” In addition to their previous salaries (ranging from $77,500 to $93,000) and any yet to be determined raises, each of the administrators is eligible for potential incentive pay between $4,200 and $5,200.
Granting raises for any of the administrators would require another vote from the board, according to superintendent Doug Marrah.
Meanwhile, district officials have not begun negotiations with Ashland City Teachers Association. The certified staff contract expires July 31.
In addition to approving administrative contracts, board members approved a five-year financial forecast prepared by Guthrie.
The forecast shows the district intends to spend about $2 million more than it brings in this year, primarily as a result of the district’s capital expenditures for construction projects.
The district is constructing a new field house and upgrading lighting at Community Stadium. An extensive high school renovation project is set to begin this summer.
Guthrie projects expenses will exceed revenues by nearly $6.4 million in fiscal year 2020, $888,000 in 2021, $1.9 million in 2022 and $2.7 million in 2023.
Those figures take into account $9.1 million in planned capital outlay over the five year period, plus another $13 million in “operating transfers-out,” a line item Guthrie said reflects money set aside for capital projects.
Personnel expenditures are projected to remain fairly flat through the next five years. The forecast shows only step increases for teachers.
Guthrie’s forecast includes a conservatively-estimated increase in tangible personal property tax revenue as a result of additional revenue from taxation of the Rover Pipeline.
While the district’s revenue in that line item increased by about $1 million this fiscal year, Guthrie said she did not assume the gas– and the money– will continue to flow. Instead, she “split the difference” between last year’s revenue and this years when predicting revenue for future years in the forecast.
The forecast shows the district expects to end this fiscal year with a balance of $8.5 million.
The district has a 9.9 mill property tax levy that would need to be renewed by 2021 in order to continue collecting the following year.
If that levy passes, the district expects to have about $5.3 million at the end of 2023. Without the levy, the forecast shows the district in the red by about $1.3 million by the end of the same year.
