Sunday, February 24, 2013
Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer offers opinions on issues affecting the residents of the 3rd District.
(Following is the weekly newsletter from State Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer, R-St. Elizabeth, MO. The opinions expressed in the column are those of Rep. Luetkemeyer and do not necessarily reflect the views of St. Charles Patch. —Ed.) The president and the Senate have had months to show how they plan to replace the devastating, across-the-board cuts in the president’s sequester with responsible spending and reforms. They have failed, and on March 1 the president’s $85 billion worth of sequester cuts that affect our national defense and domestic programs go into effect. There is no doubt that the sequester was the president’s idea and I, along with my Republican colleagues in the House, have twice voted to replace sequestration in the last …
Friday, December 14, 2012
Committee made a number of recommendations for the St. Charles Board of Education to consider as district aims to make $1 million budget cuts.
Staff cuts were among the list of recommendations the St. Charles Board of Education will consider as members try to cut $1 million from next year's budget. Superintendent Jeff Marion convened a committee of about 50 administrators, staff members, parents and community members to make recommendations for cost-saving measures. The largest issue the committee will consider is whether it makes sense to consolidate St. Charles West and St. Charles High School into just one high school. The district is paying Dickinson Hussman Architects up to $25,000 to study that issue and report back to the district. The committee is expected to weigh in this spring. Last year the district cut 10 staff positions through attrition. Marion said the district…
Tuesday, June 12, 2012
Projections for the 2012-13 school year have the Francis Howell school district operating in the red.
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Tuesday, June 12, 2012
The Francis Howell Board of Education took another step toward approving a budget for the 2012-13 school year. Following a work session in May to take a deeper look at the numbers, the board had the first reading of the proposed budget during its June 7 meeting. Chief Financial Officer Kevin Supple prepared the board to operate in the red next year. The General (Incidental) and Special Revenue (Teachers’) funds budget proposal shows Francis Howell running short $1.9 million. Supple has frequently given budget projections showing that, with a decrease in state funding and property taxes combined with an increase in salaries and other expense, the district would soon be faced with deficit spending. It was thought that the 2011-12 would be …
Wednesday, April 11, 2012
Administration pledges to study ways to increase revenue, cut expenses and bring recommendations to city council.
The city of St. Charles may deplete its fund balance by 2017 if the trend for expenditures exceeding revenues continues without change, according to a five-year financial forecast. "We're seeing a trend that obviously needs to be addressed," Director of Finance Kelly Vaughn said during a city council work session April 10. "We look like we're going to be on a pace that we're going to need to have discussions about going forward." In early 2012, the city expected to have a fund balance of $12.25 million at the end of the year, which is well above the goal of 20 percent. The anticipated expenditure in 2012 was $38.04 million and anticipated expenditure was $38.05 million. The expected revenue was revised to $38.47 million after the City…
Friday, November 18, 2011
Total revenues are expected to be $202.3 million while expenditures will be $221.5 million.
The Francis Howell School Board approved a revised budget for the 2011-12 school year on Thursday. This revised budget reflects changes in the amount of money the district will receive from state and federal sources, as well as some changes in spending. The district will receive nearly $1 million less from the state and about $200,000 less from the federal sources than anticipated when the budget was first approved. Local and county tax revenue is higher than expected, however, so the total revenues for the general and special funds are expected to decrease by just $65,000 to $168 milllion. The district also made some changes to expected expenditures, hiring new elementary instructional paraprofessionals, and increasing the amount of time …
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
St. Charles residents celebrate Independence Day during the 2011 Riverfest Fourth of July parade, carnival, and other activities.
Residents took the long weekend to celebrate Independence Day in St. Charles. Due to budget cuts, the carnival was one of the few activities held on Friday through Sunday. The carnival also was moved from it's usual location in Frontier Park to Riverside Drive. City officials were concerned about flooding at the park, so they closed off South Riverside Drive for the carnival booths and rides. The events also featured fireworks and live music. This year’s first place parade float winners: Tango Argentina also won the award for the most patriotic booth.
38.775412
-90.483466
Frontier Park
500 S Riverside Dr, Saint Charles, MO
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St. Charles cuts the budget for Riverfest by $30,000.
Just like any other year, St. Charles residents lined Main Street to see the Fourth of July Riverfest parade, crowding under awnings to escape the occasional drop of rain. Unlike prior years, the City of St. Charles cut Riverfest's budget by $30,000. Though the carnival previously went from Friday through Monday, this year, most Riverfest events were held only on Monday, the Fourth of July. Brian Weis attended Riverfest and said he thinks the fact that the majority of the festivities were held on only one day instead of three will negatively affect the city and its business owners. “When people have opportunities to go to other municipalities and take advantage of multiple days, I think that’s going to have a negative effect on the overall…
38.775412
-90.483466
Frontier Park
500 S Riverside Dr, Saint Charles, MO
/articles/riverfest-goers-respond-to-event-budget-cuts
1710259
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Tuesday, June 21, 2011
While facing shortfalls in state funding and declining property taxes, a small tuition hike helped the board pass a budget reflecting a 4.7-percent increase over last year’s.
The St. Charles Community College (SCC) Board of Trustees approved an operating budget of $37,470,000 for fiscal year 2011-12 at Monday night’s regular meeting. The new fiscal year begins July 1. Despite a reduction in state funds for the coming year, the 2011-12 budget reflects a 4.7-percent increase over the $35,800,000 budget approved for 2010-11. SCC’s main sources of revenue include state funding, local tax revenue and tuition. Gov. Jay Nixon announced a 7-percent decrease in state funding for higher education January. Todd Galbierz, SCC vice president for administrative services said the cut means a decrease of half a million dollars in state funding for the institution in the coming fiscal year. To help combat the state funding …
Friday, June 17, 2011
District will be operating at a deficit for the 2011-12 school year.
It’s only fitting that the last Francis Howell Board of Education of the 2010-11 school year would start to look to the next school year. With a 6-1 vote, the Board approved the preliminary budget for the 2011-12 school year. Board Director Mark Lafata was the lone dissenting vote on the budget. The preliminary budget was first discussed at the June 2 meeting. With declining revenues because of decreasing property taxes and lower funding by the state, the Francis Howell School District will be operating on a deficit budget and using reserve money to cover the losses. The budget projects revenues of $202,275,294 for the 2011-12 school year. In 2010-11, the District had revenues of $247,106,758. On the expenses side, the budget calls for the…
Friday, February 18, 2011
The School Board votes 7-0 to cut more than 95 full time equivalent positions for the 2011-12 school year.
The Francis Howell Board of Education voted unanimously to approve the proposed staffing cuts for the 2011-12 school year. Faced with a deficit of more than $10 million, Francis Howell administrators took action to bring spending down Thursday night. By a 7-0 vote, members voted to eliminate more than 95 full-time equivalent teaching and staff positions. The planned cuts will save the district $7,289,377. That means the district will still be in operating in the red for the 2011-12 school year. When the proposal was first made public at the Feb. 3 meeting, the board members said the cuts would made as evenly as possible across the district. The cuts don’t necessarily mean that jobs will be lost. Several vacant positions won’t be filled …
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-90.61288
4545 Central School Rd, Saint Charles, MO
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Jackson Thompson
1:29 pm on Monday, February 25, 2013
On a personal note, as a Navy Vet and trusty Shellback, I don't appreciate his drunken sailor remark. It would be one thing for a Sailor, Soldier, Airman or Marine to say it. But out of the mouth of a chicken hawk, it's another story. Spend a couple months at sea without touching land when you're in your early 20s and see if you don't feel like a belt or two when you go ashore. more ›