Here is the budget that PTA members will be voting on at the Wednesday, September 7 meeting.
Google Doc: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1elNp38nXQw8GYUg2SNkNjEE5gG0AP4TsHqSj2PP6-cU/pubhtml
PDF format: 2016-17BudgetProposalWithComparison
Please come to the meeting to vote on this, hear what’s going on, and sign up to get involved!
Budget Explanation
Please look at the column called “Proposed Official 2016-17 budget”.
The 2015-16 budget and interim 2016-17 budget (a.k.a. the summer budget) are listed in light gray for reference.
Bold numbers indicate a change greater than 10% from 2015-16.
The proposed budget has a net negative balance of -$3,651. Why?
- Normally, a budget for a nonprofit should come out to zero or slightly positive. (We aim to fund programs, not to make a profit.)
- However, last year, we ended the year with a (happy) budget surplus of around $15,000. The PTA Executive Board voted to save most of the surplus because we are using a new payment system for enrichment instructors going forward which requires us to have the money up-front. But we did also vote to give $2,500 back to the community.
- $500 will go to Playworks.
- $2,000 will go to returning core enrichment instructors as a one-time return signing bonus.
- Therefore, we are not so much operating at a big loss as we are distributing some of last year’s excess. The remaining -$1,151 is a small 1.2% of our annual expenses and we are optimistic that we will make it up through the year as long as we are careful with spending and follow our budget.
Voting
As a reminder, members must be enrolled for 30 days in order to be able to vote. If you’re new, don’t worry – you will have plenty of opportunities to vote in coming months, including the usual mid-year and year-end budget amendments.
Members from last year have a grace period until October 31 and can vote even if you have not renewed your membership. (But if you haven’t, why not do it now? Convenient one-time or monthly payment plans available at https://lakeshoreelementary.org/join-the-pta or pick up a flyer in the school lobby.)
See you September 7 at 6pm for the Room Parent meeting and 7pm for the General meeting!