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FY ‘23 - SY ‘22-‘23 Budget

Common Ground

Spring, 2022

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Agenda

Review and Understand the

FY ‘23 Draft Budget

  • Welcome
  • Review Budget Basics
  • Review Lessons Learned/Updates
  • Questions & Answers

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Goals

Review and Understand the

FY ‘23 Draft Budget

  • Build transparency & work together as a Common Ground community
  • Understand how Common Ground is funded and spends money
  • Ask & answer questions about the budget and timeline

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Important Clarifications

What about staff reductions?

  • We have made a lot of progress on our draft budget�
  • We cannot share specifics of confidential union negotiations�
  • We are currently discussing the future of 3 positions with the union

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Before We Begin

Understanding Key Terms we will cover in this presentation:

  • Budget: Estimate of income and expenses for a set period of time. Expenses cannot be greater than income.�
  • Fiscal Year: The time span covered by our budget.�
  • Cash Flow: How much cash we need on hand to keep things running. For example, for FY ‘23 we need at least $600k in our accounts at all times to meet the day to day needs of Common Ground.�
  • Projections: Estimate of future revenue/ expenses based on a study of present ones.

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Before We Begin

Understanding Common Ground High School/New Haven Ecology Project:

  • Common Ground/New Haven Ecology Project is made up of 3 core entities:
    • Common Ground High School
    • Common Ground Urban Farm
    • Common Ground Community Programs
  • CG High has one budget
  • The Farm/Community Programs have another budget
  • 2 Budgets come together to form 1 combined budget

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Budget Facts

Common Ground’s Fiscal Year:

  • The Current Fiscal Year began on July 1, 2021 and ends on June 30, 2022 (FY22)
  • Our upcoming fiscal year begins July 1, 2022 and ends on June 30, 2023 (FY 23)

Budget Timeline

  • In progress until end of June
  • Some flexibility needed to continue union negotiations

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Considerations for

FY ‘23 Budget

  • Spending and staffing plan to meet shifting student/ community needs and accountability measures
  • Fiscal Responsibility:
    • Goal Setting
    • Revenue + Cash flow Projections
    • Long term impact
  • Reduced COVID funding and cash from reserves
  • Continue progress towards equitable pay and addressing deferred facilities issues

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FY 23 Budget vs FY 22 Projections

Draft FY 23

Budget

Current FY 22

Projections

$373,303

$402,256

$490,897

$246,391

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Draft FY ‘23 Budget

Revenue

(Where does our money come from?)

  • Individuals/Events
  • Foundation Grants
  • Government Grants
  • Non-competitive Gov. Grants
  • Program Fee Income
  • Other Income
  • Internal Transfers

$190,123

Per-pupil money from the state and federal government based on October 1 headcount

$373,303

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Draft FY ‘23 Budget

Expenses: Payroll & Other

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Draft FY ‘23 Budget

Expenses: NHEP & CGHS

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Personnel Costs Over Time (org-wide)

FY 20

FY 21

FY 22

FY 23

Total Personnel Costs

$4.4 million

$4.8 million

$5.5 million

$5.5 million

Total Salaries/Wages

$3.7 million

$4.1 million

$4.6 million

$4.8 million

Number of Staff

62 Full Time

74 Full Time�(Increased Staff for Covid Needs)

74 Full Time

(Increased Staff for Covid Needs)

69 Full Time

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Draft FY ‘23 Budget Strengths

  • Our budget, like our mission, is people-centric. 75% of our budget is for payroll expenses and 25% goes towards our other expenses.�
  • Continuing our 3-year commitment to increasing staff salaries.�
  • In light of the increased need for mental and emotional health support, we are keeping on the additional full-time social worker and nurse we added with the onset of the pandemic.�
  • We will not be relying on the use of any reserves in the fiscal year ahead.

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Draft FY ‘23 Budget Risks

  • While we have set responsible fundraising goals, individual sources of income are far from certain.�
  • We are still in the process of negotiating salaries and finalizing our staffing plan.�
  • Cash flow - working on a more detailed projection to start the year.�
  • Student and community needs will continue to shift, and we will need to respond.

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Budget Timeline

Action

People Responsible

Timeframe

Operational and budget planning templates developed

Central Admin Team

January, 2022

First draft budgets by program developed

Program Leads

February/March 2022

Program budgets used to build first draft org-wide budget

Central Admin Team

March/April 2022

Begin union negotiations regarding FY 23 contract and staffing adjustments

Labor Committee

April 2022

Ongoing negotiations and draft budget adjustments

Labor Committee and Central Admin

May/June 2022

Public presentations of draft budget

Central Admin Team

May, 2022

Final budget vote

Board

June 27, 2022

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Lessons Learned

  • We need to be in better, consistent communication with each other.�
  • Our broader community is deeply invested in Common Ground, and the people who make it what it is. When we make changes, we need to center the potential impact on our people.�
  • Our students academic & human needs are different than ever before. We are committed to finding the balance between making needed changes & providing stability.

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Questions and Feedback

  • We would love to hear and answer your questions now about the budget as a whole, and what we’ve shared today.�
  • We will write down and follow up about questions about individual line items and details, if we cannot address them today. �
  • After this meeting, we’ll share the line item budget, this presentation, and a survey where you can share additional questions on our website, and with those in attendance today. We will also share a Q&A document where we address the frequently asked questions that come up through the survey.