Another $238.2M Chopped from SC State Budget

December 17, 2009

The state Budget and Control Board cut $238.2 million from South Carolina’s spending plan Tuesday, with public schools, colleges, health care, welfare and the prison system taking the brunt of the blow.
By the numbers
Some of the impact from state spending cuts of $238.2 million:
Schools: Loss of $101.5 million
Medicaid: Loss of $101.5 million
Corrections: Loss of $15.8 million

The 5 percent, across-the-board-cut was higher than anticipated and comes mid-year, as the state and its agencies run on a July 1 to June 30 spending cycle. The cuts come in the wake of slow tax collections, largely the result of South Carolina’s high unemployment, according to the Associated Press.

South Carolina public schools lost $101.5 million — following a loss of more than $85 million in September — while the state’s Medicaid programs will lose $38.3 million and the S .C. Department of Corrections sheds $15.8 million, according to a spreadsheet of the reductions provided by the Budget and Control Board.

The cuts have left already cash-strapped entities wondering what’s next.

To put things into perspective, Rallie Liston — Spartanburg School District 4 superintendent and head of the county superintendent’s association — said local schools are spending about $1,000 less per student in state money per year. While the impact of Tuesday’s cuts will vary district to district, overall schools may soon have to look at cutting personnel, class sizes or programs, he said — if they’re not already.

"We all felt certain, because of the economy, that we would get some kind of cut this year. And we all planned for it. But I don’t think any of us could’ve looked in a crystal ball and predicted this kind of cut. You’re talking about a 25 percent cut over two years," he said, counting past reductions.

"That’s staggering."

If the state can’t fund its schools for an entire school year, perhaps the Legislature should look at reducing the school calender by three or five days. Liston said. He said he’s not advocating that, just using it as an example of an idea that should be on the table.

Specifically, District 4 is looking at furloughing employees. The school board there will consider the matter in January. For District 4, a complete furlough of all employees saves about $80,000.

That goes up against the $500,000 that District 4 lost Tuesday — which is on top of $300,000 cut earlier in the school year or the $1.5 million lost last year.

Liston said he hadn’t heard of any ot her Spartanburg school districts looking at furloughs.

Greg Mack, assistant superintendent for finance and operations at School District 3, said mid-year cuts were harder for schools to absorb — as opposed to those that come at the beginning of the school year — because contracts and programs are already in place.

District 3 is going to try to absorb the latest cuts with its financial reserves, by cutting capital projects and reducing travel and other discretionary expenses. District 3 is not looking at furloughs.

"It’s the things we have to do every time something like this happens," Mack said. "But it’s getting pretty drastic. If it gets any worse, we’re all going to be in some pretty dire straights. It’s just hard to operate on the same amount of funds you had in the early 1990s when it’s 2009."

The S.C. School for the Deaf and the Blind lost nearly $600,000 Tuesday. That school’s budget has shrunk about $4.4 million — or about 26 percent — over the last 18 months due to state cuts, interim president Maggie Park said.

Past cuts have forced the school to close one of its outreach centers, reduce a three-week reading enrichment program to one week, and look at everything from cell phone use to energy consumption, she said. Employees already are anticipating a six-day furlough over the holidays.

"We’re still trying to adjust to last year’s cuts. It’s becoming harder and harder to find ways to save. It’s pretty daunting," Park said.

"But we’re going to make it through. It’s a great school, and these are great children that we serve. But I know that it’s not going to be easy."
Uni versity cuts

The University of South Carolina Upstate lost about $534,000 in the latest round of reductions.

University spokeswoman Tammy Whaley said that some money was set aside expecting a smaller cut, and the school’s increase in enrollment will allow it to make up the difference. USC Upstate had about 5,400 students enrolled this fall, a near 6 percent enrollment increase over fall 2008.

USC Upstate isn’t planning on furloughing employees or increasing student fees mid-year, Whaley said.

But the University of South Carolina Union is a smaller campus and despite its own increase in enrollment, that hasn’t been enough to make up for Tuesday’s cuts.

USC Union lost about $39,000.

Still, the Union campus is not looking at furloughing employees or cutting programs, Regional Campus Dean Hugh Rowland said.

"Does it take ingenuity? Does it take tremendous belt tightening? Yes. But our commitment is to only as a last measure consider furloughs or anything that would jeopardize jobs," Rowland said.

"We have never encountered these types of budget cuts in our whole careers, and I’ve been at this 35 years. … This is unlike anything anyone my age has encountered in their careers, encountered in their lifetimes. Societally, it’s very tough on people, And down here in Union County, with the unemployment the way it is, it’s very, very tough. As a college, though, it’s our job to offer hope and do everything we can to help people."