Arlington School District to Have a Smaller Shortfall (TX)
June 14, 2010
For the fourth straight year, the Arlington school district would operate with a deficit — although a smaller one — according to a preliminary $437 million budget to be presented to the school board tonight.
It will be the first time the board gets a detailed look at the 2010-11 budget, which officials say is the minimum to maintain all current programs and services. It will be shaped at other meetings and public hearings before a final version is adopted by Aug. 31.
The economic downturn and the state funding constraints are contributing to another year of expenses exceeding revenues. But budget officials are projecting a smaller deficit: $8.4 million compared with $12.1 million in 2009-10.
They credit budget cuts of about $13.7 million over the past two years, and a slight uptick in revenue, partly from a late $1.1 million payment from Medicaid, for reducing the deficit.
Dipping into the reserve fund to cover the expected deficit would still leave what officials consider to be a healthy fund balance of $62 million.
"We have the sources of income that will allow the district to continue to function the way we need to function," said school board President Gloria Peña.
Arlington won’t be alone in relying on its savings, said Cindy Powell, associate superintendent for finance.
"Word on the street is that over 50 percent of school districts next year will have deficit budgets," Powell said.
Officials expect no tax rate increase next year for maintenance and operation, but they have projected an increase in the debt-service tax rate to start paying the $197.5 million bond that voters approved last fall.
While planning for the election, the district projected raising the debt rate by roughly 5 cents per $100 of property value, which would push the overall tax rate to around $1.322. But Powell said that declining property values likely would require a bigger tax rate increase.
"That’s something we will work on when we get our certified property values in July," Powell said.
While three new nonteaching positions are being recommended in the spending plan, the budget calls for cutting 17 teacher positions and 19 teaching assistant ones, based on staffing formulas that account for enrollment fluctuations at schools. The district employs about 4,100 teachers and it is projecting enrollment to grow by only 136 students next year, to a total of 63,623.
The staff is making no recommendations about pay raises. Each 1 percent pay raise for all employees costs $3.3 million, Powell said.
In the 2009-10 budget, the distric t gave a 2.8 percent pay raise that was mandated and funded by the state, but only for teachers, counselors, nurses, librarians and speech pathologists. The school board added a one-time 2 percent payment for other employees in lieu of a regular salary increase, Superintendent Jerry McCullough said.