September 8, 2023

Hoover City Schools (HCS) District Chief School Financial Officer Michele McCay presented the District’s $231.3M proposed Fiscal Year (FY) 2024 budget during the first of two scheduled budget hearings. The FY24 budget runs from October 1, 2023, to September 30, 2024. 

Here’s a breakdown of the total proposed FY24 expenditures:

General Fund -  $177,632,283

Special Revenue Fund - $25,585,590

Debt Service Fund -  $12,686,465

Capital Projects Fund - $13,628,142

Fiduciary Expendable Trust Fund -  $1,803,471

Total= $231,335,951

McCay says some facts in preparing next year’s budget included allocations based on an Average Daily Membership from September 2022. Due to a decrease of only 66 students from 2021 to 2022, the District maintained the same amount of earned units and funding for instructional support.

Teachers received a $100 increase for student materials from $900 to $1,000. There was an increase in salaries and benefits with a 2% legislative raise and an additional year of experience. The proposed FY24 budget allocates 75% of the General Fund spending toward instruction. An additional 20 new A/C buses were purchased for the transportation department fleet renewal, which will make 100% of the route buses for students equipped with A/C. Those new buses are expected to arrive in October 2023.

Some of the concerns shared by McCay include:

• Stable student enrollment district-wide

• Special education funding is not enough to meet the needs of students with disabilities

• Continued increase in Maintenance of Effort

• Attracting and retaining highly qualified teachers

• Federal funding decreasing; student needs increasing

• Projected inflation on revenue stream

• Continued residential growth

$14.5M in capital projects are planned for Hoover schools in 2024, and some of those projects are listed below:

• New Playground (Shades Mt. Elementary, Deer Valley Elementary, Brock's Gap Intermediate)

• Theater Upgrade (Spain Park High)

• Building Addition (Transportation)

• Additional Parking (Hoover High)

• HVAC Project (Riverchase Elementary)

• Athletic Field Upgrade (R.F. Bumpus Middle)

• Fleet Renewal

HCS is pleased to have completed all capital projects without incurring additional debt since 2007. McCay says with a projected ending fund balance of  $108.1M, HCS will end FY24 with 7.3 months’ reserve.

McCay says it is important to take note of the following key points:

• The timing of revenues and expenditures has a huge impact on how the financial statement looks from one year to the next

• The economy drives our revenue stream

• Salaries and benefits are a reflection of the degrees held and years of experience employees bring to Hoover City Schools

• HCS has not expensed more than we are taking in

• HCS is using savings (rainy day fund) for major capital projects

• The district has not incurred additional debt since 2007

The second budget hearing before the Board votes is scheduled for Tuesday, September 12, 2023, at 4:30 p.m. before the regular Board meeting.  Here’s a link to the budget hearing presentation.