By LISA SIMPSON STRANGE
Glasgow Daily Times
GLASGOW — Almost $6 million for a new Glasgow High School has been included in the House version of the budget passed Wednesday in Frankfort.
The House passed a $17.5 billion two-year state budget plan, which relies on budget cuts plus more than $300 million in revenue enhancements, to curtail a more than $1 billion shortfall in the next budget. The measure passed on a 65-33 vote.
The funding represents the equalization or matching by the state of a recallable nickel tax levy that the members of the Glasgow Board of Education voted for in August. There was no petition for recall by the community and the tax went into effect in October.
House Bill 290 provides for another $5.5 million in bonding potential for the construction of a new high school in the Glasgow school system. Added to the current bonding capacity of $15 million, if the Senate and Gov. Steve Beshear leave the equalization money intact, the district will have almost $21 million for construction projects.
“In essence, that money was put in for Glasgow High School for equalization of the recallable nickel,” said Rep. Johnny Bell, D-Glasgow. “I’m just elated that it’s in there. It was the fair thing to do. We had set aside that provision (for equalizing nickels) last year, so we had to tweak it to get that for something like seven or nine school districts.”
Glasgow board member Elaine Richardson is happy that the funding was included in the House bill, but is waiting to see what happens when the Senate begins working on their version of the budget.
“That would be wonderful, but we can’t get too excited. It has to pass the Senate and be signed by the governor,” said Richardson, who was chairman of a committee convened last year to research construction and renovation options for GHS. “It certainly puts us in a good position to go ahead with Glasgow High School.”
In the House bill, the basic funding formula for public schools was spared, but the proposal would cut two instructional days for those schools in a move to save about $36 million each year. Districts could preserve the days but would have to pay for them out of their own general funds.
Republicans had complained their districts were left off the list of school construction projects, which they said was punishment for their opposition to the revenue enhancements. That proposal seeks to replace some of the state’s oldest school buildings.
But all funding has an uncertain future in the Senate for now.
“I’ve been hearing a lot of that stuff is going to be cut out,” Bell said. “Hopefully we’ll be able to retain it in the budget.”
Sen. David Givens, R-Greensburg, hopes Glasgow will get its funding, but made no promises Thursday. The senators will have hard choices to make with the current financial situation in the state.
“At this point, it’s a little premature,” he said. “The approach we take in the Senate will be a bit different from the House. We will look at what revenue we have first, rather than building a budget with lots of projects. We’re going to have to live within our means reflected in the budget and revenue document put forward by the Senate.”
The House passed a revenue document that puts considerable burden on businesses, according to Givens.
The House’s plan relies on a package of revenue enhancements aimed at generating an extra $371 million in the coming two years to help balance the next budget. The proposed tax changes include temporarily suspending tax write-offs for businesses reporting losses and accelerating collection of sales taxes. It would not raise tax rates, but opponents said the suspension amounted to a tax increase. The bill’s supporters said businesses could still eventually claim those losses for tax purposes.
Givens will be competing for projects in all the counties in his district including Glasgow High School, he said. But the end result in the Senate may not please anyone.
“The potential exists that we could pass a Senate budget without any projects,” he said. “That reality is reflective of what Kentucky families face today.”
Richardson holds out hope the additional funding will be available, but said the Glasgow school district will not be waiting around to see what the legislature does.
“I think (Givens) is committed and will fight for it. I’m hopeful that it will pass the Senate like the House,” she said. “We’re going to move ahead with construction no matter what, but this will obviously put us in a much better position. We’re not just sitting and waiting. We’ll do what we can in the meantime.”
The community should begin to see first construction by next school year with a target goal for completion of the new high school in 2012, according to Richardson.
Bell, Givens and school board members met with representatives from the governor’s office a year ago. They were told then the school district would need to do everything possible first to improve revenue sources locally and then the state would help them. The Glasgow board successfully passed the recallable nickel several months later.
“We’re having to go through a process that other school districts have gone through with non-recallable nickels. Glasgow’s done their part,” Bell said.
Even as legislators try to come up with a balanced budget and include projects for their constituents, economic prospects for the state look worse rather than better. The state budget office said Wednesday the state’s general fund receipts dropped 0.6 percent in February compared with the previous year and total revenues for the month were $525 million — $3.4 million less than state government took in during the same month in 2009. Receipts have fallen 4 percent for the first eight months of the fiscal year, according to the report.
This story includes information from the Associated Press.
