North Kingstown committee weighs enterprise accounts; child-nutrition plan includes 50¢ breakfast increase and a concession trailer

At the Feb. 3 budget work session the North Kingstown administration reviewed several enterprise accounts and proposed modest revenue and expenditure changes to bring funds in line with rising costs.

Computer repair: Administration said the computer-repair enterprise account was successfully used to purchase replacement equipment and to spend down prior balances. For FY27 the department proposed a $20,000 budget for Chromebook repairs and cautioned the fund be used only for repair-related spending.

Chromebook insurance and billing: Technology staff explained the district charges $25 for optional Chromebook insurance and noted the fee has not been raised in years. "A small increase of $5 to $10 per family could materially raise revenues," a technology official said; the committee discussed potential impacts on families and agreed to consider modest increases as part of longer-term planning. Administration clarified that parents may be billed for intentional or negligent damage if they do not carry insurance.

Gate receipts and musical: The committee heard that gate receipts were spent down (uniform purchases) and that recent technical issues with the ticketing vendor GoFan may have reduced revenue at some events. The musical program will have fewer shows this season (four instead of six) because of scheduling conflicts; ticket prices were increased and staff will rework expenses and revenue projections.

Child nutrition: The nutrition director recommended raising breakfast prices by 50¢ (from $1.00 to $1.50) for FY27, citing rising food and labor costs and noting that the food cost for the current breakfast already exceeds the $1.00 charge. The proposed increase would generate an estimated $16,000 in additional revenue; administration said the nutrition account has incurred small operating deficits and that the change would help the program move toward break-even. The committee also reviewed plans for new vending machines and a concession trailer to increase revenue; administration said the trailer would be permitted for community events if it met child-nutrition program requirements.

Fund balance/spend down: Administration reminded the committee that audit rules and net-cash guidance require maintaining roughly a three-month reserve (about $470,000 in the nutrition fund) and asked for committee direction on how aggressive to be when spending down excess balances.

Next steps: administration will provide additional details on Chromebook insurance opt-in rates, ticketing issues, and concession-trailer revenue/cost assumptions before finalizing the FY27 enterprise budgets.