The Dowagiac Board of Education passed a preliminary budget for the upcoming fiscal year during their meeting Monday evening, which projects a deficit of more than $66,000.

According to the proposed budget, the district is anticipated to bring in $20,465,061 worth of revenue over the next year, while spending $20,531,163 in expenses over the same period.

Presenting the budget to the board was the new financial director for the district, Stacy Ritchie, and outgoing director
Dawn Copley.

In terms of revenue, the district is projecting a $16,000 decrease from the amount received last year, due to slight cutbacks to state and federal funding. However, the financial officers anticipate $94,000 uptick in local revenue sources.

“We factored in additional casino revenue, so that’s probably the most significant [change],” Ritchie said, when asked about the increase. “Taxes we usually leave about the same, but those tend to fluctuate a little bit.”

They also anticipate $7,000 upswing in revenue generated through school athletic events as well, due to a predicted increase in ticket sales.

Another question was posed about the reduction in expected expenses for the district’s Adult and Continuing Education program, which is projected to see a $40,000 decrease from last year’s proposed budget.

“The difference is with a deal that we have with Niles, and the revenues and expenses are not reflected in this budget until we know for sure they we’ll have it,” Copley said.

The estimated deficit for the proposed budget is around $242,000 lower than the number called for in the 2013-2014 budget. Though last year’s initial budget had forecast a surplus of over $211,000, increased costs due to winter related maintenance significantly increased the district’s expenses for the year.