Schools Enjoy $4.7 Mil Surplus
Wetzel County Schools Treasurer Jeff Lancaster announced to the Board of Education last night that Wetzel County Schools has $4.7 million to reallocate from the financial closing of the 2014 fiscal year.
He stated that a portion of these funds will go towards teachers “over the formula,” which is to say that the funds will go toward funding teacher and service personnel positions that are in excess of the funds provided by the state aid funding formula to Wetzel County. “That’s how this board and our administration has decided to spend a lot of those funds, adding teachers and school nurses and cooks throughout the county,” he stated.
Lancaster stated that for the 2013-2014 school year, the board’s total payroll was $17.9 million. “I believe we are the largest employer in Wetzel County,” he noted.
Lancaster stated that a board’s financial statements show both highlights and lowlights, and “fortunately for Wetzel, there’s highlights, mainly due to Marcellus Shale development.” Lancaster stated that property taxes stood at $8.4 million for the last fiscal year. “As your local property tax collections go up, the state decreases your state aid” he stated, adding that state aid decreased by $4.2 million. “The only reason we are seeing the increase in revenues is because we have the excess levy,” he noted, expressing gratitude toward Wetzel County citizens who passed the levy.