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• Caston Officials Discussing $2 Million In Capital Projects (Logansport Pharos-Tribune, 2/16/12)

• Cutting Costs: "Old" And "New" 2011-12 Support Staff Salary Schedules (9/11/11)

• "Money Woes At Caston" (Rochester Sentinel, 5/12/11)

• Caston's 2007-08 Support Staff Salary Schedule (2/23/08)

• Caston's Total Tax Rate From 1983 To 2007 (12/30/07)

Treasurer's Report (8/22/06) - Each month a Treasurer's Report for Caston is acted upon by the Board and excerpts may be found here. 

Tax-Supported Funds (8/22/06) - The local, state, and federal funding of Indiana schools is a complicated subject. However, for a local system, such as Caston, in very simple terms it still amounts to assets, liabilities, and net assets.

All Indiana public school corporations may levy and collect property taxes for the General, Debt Service, Capital Projects, Transportation, Bus Replacement, Special Education Preschool, and Referendum Funds. (Source: http://www.doe.state.in.us/publications/pdf_finance/FinanceDigest05-07.pdf) 

A summary of each Fund, as found at http://www.doe.state.in.us/finance/glossary.html, is as follows (with exception of Referendum Fund):

GENERAL FUND - The General Fund is used to budget and account for all receipts and expenditures for the basic operation and the programs of the school corporation. Expenditures from this fund may be made for items associated with the daily operation of a school corporation. This includes expenses for salaries of teachers, administrators, support staff, fringe benefits, supplies, heat, lights, maintenance and other day-to-day operation expenses.

DEBT SERVICE FUND - The debt service fund is used to budget and account for receipts and expenditures necessary to meet the annual debt obligations of the school corporation. Expenditures from this fund may be used to make bond and/or lease rental payments and state technology and construction loans. Interest on loans taken for the purpose of any other fund can be paid from the debt service fund. For taxation purposes this fund is only used when there is a need to retire debt. The tax rate must be sufficient to raise the amount necessary to meet the debt obligations during the year.

CAPITAL PROJECTS FUND - The Capital Projects Fund (CPF) was established by the 1987 General Assembly in IC 21-2-15. A school corporation must annually prepare a three year CPF Plan, conduct a public hearing, publish notice of adoption, and allow taxpayers the right to file a petition objecting to the Plan. The first year of the Plan becomes a part of the annual budget. The CPF can be used for land acquisition and development, fees for professional services, educational specification development, building acquisition, construction, and improvement, rental of buildings and equipment, purchase of mobile or fixed equipment, certain emergencies, maintenance of equipment, construction, repair, replacement, remodeling or maintenance of a school sports facility as long as the expenditure does not exceed 5% of the property tax levy, certain staff services, allocating funds for future projects, and transferring funds to the Repair and Replacement Fund. The Department of Local Government Finance has a detailed memorandum concerning the Capital Projects Fund.

SCHOOL TRANSPORTATION FUND - IC 21-2-11.5-2(a) requires each school corporation to establish a school transportation fund which is the exclusive fund for the payment of operating costs associated with the transportation program. Operating costs attributable to the school transportation fund are the salaries of drivers, the transportation supervisor, mechanics and garage employees, clerks and other transportation related employees. It will also pay for the cost of contracted transportation services, wages of independent contractors, contracts with common carriers, transportation related insurance, gasoline, lubricants, tires, repairs, contracted repairs, parts, supplies, and other transportation related expenses.

SCHOOL BUS REPLACEMENT FUND - IC 21-2-11.5-2(b) requires each school corporation to establish a school bus replacement fund. The school bus replacement fund is the exclusive fund to pay for the replacement of school buses, either through a purchase agreement or under a lease agreement.

SPECIAL EDUCATION PRESCHOOL FUND - The special education preschool fund was enacted by the 1991 General Assembly to enable school corporations to implement IC 20-1-6-14.1. This statute requires each school corporation to provide each preschool handicapped child with an appropriate special education. IC 21-2-117-3 requires each school corporation to establish a special education preschool fund to be used for the revenue and expenses to operate the preschool program. Revenue to the fund is from local sources and from state support.

Budget Resolution of Tax Rates (Caston Website, 9/15/06) - Tuesday, September 5, 2006 the School Board of Trustees adopted our budget for the upcoming year.  Soon you will see tax rates published for all of our various funds.  One very important item for all to remember is These rates are advertised high and will be reduced in some cases by a sizeable margin.  These will not be the final rates!  The rates published are:

                                     2007 Advertised                   2006 Advertised         2006 Actual

General Fund                         $1.8110                                $2.4650                    $  .7840

Debt Service Fund                 $  .1426                                $  .1393                    $  .0806

Capital Projects Fund             $  .3808                                $  .4902                    $  .2956

Transportation Fund               $  .3741                                $  .4661                    $  .2384

Bus Replacement Fund           $  .0842                                $  .0662                    $  .0481

Special Education                   $  .0161                                $  .0221                    $  .0022
Preschool Fund

Retirement/Severance             $    -0-                                  $    -0-                      $    -0-
Fund 

Again, please remember these rates will change--they will go down.  You may receive a "Tentative Tax Bill" from the County Treasurer's Office based on these rates, but this will NOT be your final statement.  Your final statement will reflect the reduced rates once they are set by the DLGF in Indianapolis.  If you have any questions on this section, please feel free to give me a call, thanks. (Source: Superintendent Huffman's "Community Update" of 9/15/06)

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Cutting Costs: Old" And "New" 2011-12 Support Staff Salary Schedules (9/11/11) - Information related to the following two tables will be found here. 

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"Money Woes At Caston" (Rochester Sentinel, 5/12/11)
(This article was originally published in The Rochester Sentinel on Thursday, May 12, 2011. Bold type, highlighting and parenthetical comments have been added by the Webmaster. More parenthetical comments were added on 5/16/11. )

BY CHRISTINA M. SEILER

News Editor, The Sentinel

Caston School Corp. is spending more money than it brings in. (Caston has been able to do this because of the balance in the General Fund. As of April 30th it was $2,735,494.80.)

Board members have some tough decisions ahead as they try to head off a projected $470,000 general fund deficit in 2012.

“I had hoped last year’s measures would help weather the storm. But they’re not. It would be ill-advised to continue to eat the cash balance,” Superintendent Dan Foster told school board members during a Wednesday budget workshop. “We kinda said last year, there’s going to be some unpleasant times ahead.”

“The real challenge is, now, what are we going to do about it?” said board member Russ Phillips.

Foster told the board this year’s approved general fund budget is $6 million and the projected revenue from the state of Indiana in 2012 is $4.9 million.

Finance chief Denise Chandler told board members operating expenses have exceeded revenue for the past three years – by $275,159 this year with six more months (this should say "eight more months) to go – and by $278,722 and $156,587 (this should say "$163,587") in 2010 and 2009 respectively.

She said she anticipates the corporation’s cash balance – money not spent at the end of the budget year and held over for emergency – will be $500,000 at the end of 2011. The Indiana Department of Local Government Finances recommends a cash balance of 8 to 10 percent of the total budget, including all funds.

From the general fund comes all operating expenses except transportation and capital improvements.

RIF and retire

At its May 3 board meeting, the Caston board approved a proposed 2012 reduction in force by 1.5 positions, both at the high school. (This statement is not factually correct. The Caston Board took no such action nor was the Board asked to take such action.)

Foster said that by the time teachers retire and aren’t replaced and some other shuffling is done, the corporation will lose five or six positions.

Wednesday’s work session was more of an information gathering session, with Chandler handing board members a thick stack of financial information to study.

Foster attributed most of the financial problems to the state, saying the general fund takeover three years ago by the state also took away local board’s authority to raise the property taxes they needed.

Board member Jason Herd asked Foster what he meant when he said he couldn’t blame it all on the state. Foster answered: Caston hasn’t taken the drastic measures other school corporations have in the past couple years.

Rochester, for example, cut as much as $1 million from its 2011 budget. It completed a buyout for six teachers, cut the athletic department budget by $15,000 a year, froze salaries of teachers, settled a big lawsuit to cut attorney fees, adjusted building heating and cooling by 2 degrees, cut office supply budgets, and cut administrator contract days among other things.

Cut where?

Phillips suggested coaching stipends – $92,716 in 2011 – were a place to look. He also noted that Caston is hosting a youth baseball tournament this summer that will call for a custodian to be working outside of normal hours.

“This is small potatoes, but a lot of small potatoes add up,” he said.

Board member Bruce Cress suggested any unneeded appliances should be banned from classrooms. Teachers have microwaves, refrigerators and extra heaters.

He also said restroom heat could be turned down, as it often is on so high it blows into the hallway.

“Buy out? Is that a possibility to cut costs?” Cress asked. “The buyout could come out of the rainy day fund.”

Zartman said she’d be concerned about losing too many veteran teachers at once because it could harm the learning environment. “We still have to make the grade,” she said.

Zartman suggested the corporation’s (insurance) contribution for non-certified employees should be looked at.

At one point, Phillips asked what the board budgets for its own insurance. The answer: $46,600 (This should say $46,060) this year for the five board member’s medical insurance.

No specific cuts were voted on. There will be another workshop (This is a Public Work Session and will be held in the Administration Building.) at 3 p.m. May 18.

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Caston Officials Discussing $2 Million In Capital Projects (Logansport Pharos-Tribune, 2/16/12)

Nothing finalized, officials to discuss list during work session

by Dustin Kass
Pharos-Tribune

Caston School Corp. officials are eyeing a new bus barn and parking lots as they consider spending about $2 million on capital projects.

School board members will hold a public work session Wednesday to discuss possible capital improvements for the district.

A facilities planning committee, which includes two of the five school board members, has identified the bus barn and parking lots as among the top priorities, Superintendent Dan Foster said. Other items that have been discussed include improvements to the high school gym and replacing interior doors.

“It’s just like a home,” Foster said. “You wouldn’t live in a home for 40 years without doing anything to it.”

The superintendent emphasized no final decisions have been made yet.

The district has money allocated to capital projects in its budget each year. But a project as expensive as building a new bus barn would use almost that whole allocation, leaving little money to do with any other unexpected expenses that may arise, Foster said.

Caston also has debt payments from 2002 scheduled to expire at the end of the year.

That presents the district with an opportunity to borrow a similar amount — about $2 million — while still maintaining the current tax levels, Foster said. He noted that the interest rates now also are lower than in 2002.

That’s why officials are discussing work on the crumbling parking lots and “rusted out” bus barn.

“It leaks like crazy,” Foster said of the structure, adding that the door is too small, requiring that some air be let out of vehicles’ tires before they can fit in.

Both projects have been targeted for replacement since before Foster became superintendent four years ago, he said, but the money’s never been there.

If projects are selected, Foster said he hopes much of the work can be completed this summer.

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