School general fund balance climbs to $2.29 million

It was good news for Holyoke School District Re-1J when auditor Scott Szabo of Lauer, Szabo & Associates noted that the school district ended the 2019-20 year with a general fund balance of $2,285,193. He called it “a good, healthy fund balance.”

In his auditor report at the Dec. 10 board meeting, Szabo cited the $682,403 increase from the previous year’s ending fund balance of $1,602,790.

Additionally, he emphasized that the balance did not include coronavirus moneys. While a majority of the coronavirus money was received in May, the revenue will be noted in the same fiscal year that it is spent.

The funded pupil count in the year ending June 30 was 608.5, compared to 585.4 the previous year. Part of the increase was attributed to kindergartners now being counted as full-time instead of 0.58-time students.

In addition to approving the 2019-2020 audit report last week, the board also certified the district’s mill levy for property tax year 2020.

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