St. Helens business office reports improved budget transparency, hires temporary support ahead of spring budget cycle

Christie Woodard, the district business manager, told the St. Helens SD 502 board the business office has added temporary help from two former business managers to clear backlog, prepare for the budget season and provide more detailed budget-to-actual reports.

Woodard said the district has asked former business managers Andre Shalhoz and Galen Jacobson to help while staff finish records requests and prepare materials for the upcoming budget work session and hearings. She thanked Tracy and Beth from the business office for their work and said the team has reworked budget reports to show general-fund actuals through Jan. 31, encumbrances and projected balances.

Why this matters: The board heard that improved reporting and the temporary hires are intended to give members clearer, more actionable data before the district’s budget deliberations. Woodard said some recurring costs are not yet encumbered in the system (for example, substitute costs through ESS) and that she is estimating those expenses for planning.

Woodard reviewed standard budget documents, a disbursement summary and the top vendors list and said the business office will trim routine check detail from board reports so members see payments over a $5,000 threshold in future board materials. She said that change will produce a shorter, focused two-page report of significant expenditures for board review.

The board set an accelerated budget calendar. A public budget work session was placed on March 10 and the board’s regular March 12 meeting was scheduled as the interview date if needed to appoint new budget-committee members. The meeting packet announced two budget-committee vacancies (position 2 and position 5); the board voted to declare both open.

Motion and votes: The board approved a consent-agenda motion with a clerical correction to the January minutes (motion and second recorded in the meeting; the chair announced the motion passed). Later the board moved and seconded to declare budget-committee position 2 and position 5 open; the chair announced the motion passed.

Woodard said the state revenue forecast recently increased and the district expects the official allocation numbers in May or June. She cautioned that the state numbers are not final until later in the budget cycle.

The business manager said the team is preparing a more detailed packet for the board’s March work session and that the budget committee application window and interview schedule will be posted; the transcript includes inconsistent references to an application deadline (the meeting includes both March 7 and May 7 in different places), and Woodard said she will circulate clarified dates to the public and post notices.

Ending: The board encouraged residents to apply for the budget committee and heard that the business office will present a fuller packet at the March work session.