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County, school budgets show deficits
Preliminary figures show the bottom line in the red by hundreds of thousands of dollars for both the Clarke County government and its school system, members of finance committees putting together separate fiscal 2009 budgets for each said late last week.
The Board of Supervisors’ committee Thursday afternoon estimated a $643,101 deficit, primarily due to expected cutbacks in state revenues and the need for the county to pick up a larger part of the tab for funding its schools.
Supervisor John Staelin (D-Millwood/Pine Grove), chairman of the board and its finance committee, said, “It’s not a great picture at the moment.”
Staelin’s committee just last week thought the county could have a small surplus of $5,650 for fiscal 2009, which begins July 1. The preliminary overall fiscal 2009 budget is $39.1 million compared with $38 million for the current year.
And in a Friday afternoon meeting, the School Board’s committee continued its discussion of ways to cut or defer spending to compensate for a potential $760,000 shortfall in state revenues. That figure was derived by averaging the amount of reductions currently being proposed by the governor and state lawmakers, Administrative Services Director Thomas Judge said.
In terms of county revenues, Acting Superintendent John Taylor’s proposed fiscal 2009 budget asks for $796,187 more in local funding for school operations than during the current year.
However, total local tax funding, which covers not only operations but also the food service, debt service, and capital funds, would rise by $290,000 in fiscal 2009 above the current year under Taylor’s proposal.
The school system needs to achieve cost savings and efficiency improvements by making permanent structural changes, said Robina Rich Bouffault (White Post District), chairman of the School Board and its finance committee.
“I’m trying to free up a greater percentage of the budget to go into classroom instruction,” she said.
“We’re trying to protect the children’s education while being sensitive to the taxpayers’ needs as well,” Bouffault added.
The superintendent’s overall proposed fiscal 2009 budget is nearly $25.4 million compared with slightly more than $26 million during the current year.
The county’s proposed budget includes a 2-cent hike in real estate taxes for calendar year 2008 and a 3-cent increase in 2009. Even with these, an additional tax increase could be needed if county and school spending cuts do not close the deficit gaps, an action both committees said they hope to avoid.
Much depends on the final version of the commonwealth’s budget, which is expected to be decided by a General Assembly conference committee by March 8, both finance committees said, noting they hope to have a better idea by then how much state revenue the county and the school system each could receive.
Contact the reporter at rmarlow@timespapers.com
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