H-D board reconsidering budget due to inflation

The Hampton-Dumont Community School Board is considering budget cuts for the upcoming fiscal year. On Friday, March 11, the board held a special meeting where Superintendent Todd Lettow advised making a $700,000 reduction to the 2022-23 budget in order to compensate for rising inflation.

This budget cut will be in addition to $1.6 million in cuts that the district has been anticipating as COVID funding expires.

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, Hampton-Dumont was already preparing for a $400,000 budget reduction. Federal COVID money allowed the district to delay those cuts during the pandemic and add additional positions such as reading and math interventionists in order to mitigate the impact of teaching in pandemic conditions.

"One of the first things we did was use the first $400,000 to not reduce staff," said Lettow. "Basically, we knew that eventually there was going to be a funding cliff when you have one-time money paying for these recurring costs."

The district intended to start re-adjusting the budget to compensate for the end of COVID funds in 2023-24, however unexpectedly high inflation has caused the district to reconsider the budget for 2022-23 as well.

Originally, the 2022-23 budget was written with 1-2% inflation in mind. With inflation estimates now considerably higher than anticipated, the board will need to re-evaluate how far those dollars will be able to go. Knowing that the district was already facing $1.6 million in cuts in the future, Lettow has suggested making a $700,000 reduction now to avoid a larger problem later.

"I didn't want to compound the problem for the new superintendent," said Lettow. "Making some of these cuts now will help soften the blow."

On Tuesday, March 15, a select board committee will meet with district administrators to start looking at what can be cut.