Both local school boards have now approved their working budgets for the 2009-10 fiscal year and administrators from the two districts have arrived at some of the same conclusions.

Shrinking local tax revenues and cuts in state funding have been at least partially offset by federal stimulus dollars for this year and the next, so even though budgets may be equal to or smaller than in the previous two years, the districts haven’t had to make drastic cuts yet. But if the economy doesn’t turn around by 2011 and they are no repeats of government funding such as the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, deeper cuts may become a reality.

Both districts have already seen some unexpected cuts in textbook funding recently. Glasgow found out a textbook grant had been reduced from $69,000 to $7,000. Barren County Schools received word last week that they would be suffering a $129,000 loss in textbook funding, as well.



GLASGOW

The Glasgow Board of Education met on Sept. 14 at South Green Elementary and Finance Director Sue Furlong presented the 2009-10 working budget to board members.

Revenue totals for Glasgow Independent Schools for 2009-10 are projected to be $22,119,368, according to Furlong. That number is fairly stable when compared to the previous two years’ actuals. Total actual revenue for the 2008-09 school year was $22,456,139 and $22,048,185 for fiscal 2007-08.

Total actual expenditures in 2008-09 were $17,485,011 and $18,315,868 in 2007-08. Projected expenditures for the current budget are $22,119,368, matching projected revenues, which is normal procedure when using a working budget.

The budget includes a 4.9 percent contingency, Furlong said. The state normally requires districts keep at least 2 percent of their money in a contingency fund.

Furlong told the board that the stimulus money made everything a little more confusing when she was developing the budget this time because amounts had to be moved in between different budgetary funds.

In the General Fund, total revenues are budgeted at $14,556,593 for this year, as compared to $16,538,602 for last year and $16,402,521 for the prior year. Budgeted General Fund expenditures for this year are $14,556,593, as compared to $13,048,808 last year and $13,648,732 for the prior year.

Fund 2, or special revenue, is budgeted for $2,806,509 this year, compared to $2,424,747 and $2,637,052 respectively for the last two years. Expenditures in Fund 2 equal revenue with a projected fund balance of zero at the end of fiscal year.

The Capital Outlay Fund is budgeted for $181,000 compared to $181,932 and $216,093. Expenditures in Capital Outlay also equal revenue.

The Building Fund has a projected budget of $3,043,753 in the current year. That is in comparison to $1,801,522 last year and $1,275,954 the previous year. The building fund had carryovers of $1,291,215 in 2008-09 and $802,607 in 2007-08. The district has been working to increase funds and bonding capacity for improvements to Glasgow High School.

The Food Services Fund has remained fairly stable with approximately $1.5 million budgeted in the last three years and $1.3 million being expended.

Furlong said her greatest concern would be the possibility of having to pink slip people unless there is an influx of revenue after the stimulus money is gone in 2011.

Guidance counselors, assistant principals, staff for the Happy Valley Learning Center and the newest teachers hired would be the first to be let go if those cuts become necessary in the future. But for now, those measures are just speculative and the district’s financial standing remains good.

“It’s a very good budget. We have more money than in the past,” Furlong said. “A lot of money is flowing in the district this year and next year (because of the stimulus package).”



BARREN COUNTY

John Stith, finance director for Barren County Schools, presented his working budget to members at the board’s central office during a specially called meeting on Sept. 29.

The district ended the previous year with a $1.1 million carryover, he told the board, and based on average daily attendance for 4,213 students this year, the school district will receive an additional $200,000 in funding.

Stith also said he was shooting for a 4 percent contingency in the current budget, which would be $1.4 million.

Total projected revenue for the 2009-10 working budget is $42,263,754, compared to actuals of $43,934,937 for 2008-09 and $46,743,175 for 2007-08, a decease of almost $4.5 million over the three-year period. Projected total expenditures are the same as the revenue projection. In 2008-09, total actual expenditures were $42,739,391 and were $45,991430 in 2007-08.

General Fund projected revenues are $27,690,237, compared to $31,170,327 and $33,739452, respectively over the last two years. Projected expenditures are the same as projected revenue in the current working budget. Expenditures for the last two years were $30,042,528 and $32,925,132.

Fund 2 projected revenue is $7,693,171, compared to $6,011,864 and $6,439,126 for the previous two years. Projected expense is the same as projected revenue with $6,012,618 and $6,439,082 spent in the past two years.

Stith said Fund 2 is up significantly because all the stimulus money the district received is run through that fund.

The Capital Outlay Fund has projected revenue of $416,140, compared to the two previous years of $407,936 and $407,870. Projected expenditures are the same for all.

The Building Fund is projected to have both revenues and expenditures of $3,695,127, compared to $3,616,635 and $3,276,328 for both for years 2008-09 and 2007-08.

Food Services funding has also remained fairly stable in this district as well, staying between $2.8 and $2.9 million in revenue and $2.7 and $2.9 million in expense.

Stith also has worries about what happens to funding, especially for personnel, a couple of years from now.

“What do you do in two years?” he asked rhetorically of the board. “It’s going to look very interesting looking at paying teachers’ salaries – at creating and keeping jobs.”

Superintendent Dr. Jerry Ralston said the bottom line is right now stimulus funds are replacing money not coming from the state and that can’t last. Other revenue sources continue to decrease.

“Tax receipts haven’t gone up, they’ve only gone down,” said board member Tim England.

A school district shouldn’t count on the contingency fund being the answer either.

“Other districts have health contingency funds,” Stith said.

“But some contingency funds have already been depleted because of the economy,” Ralston added.

Another problem down the road to consider is unfunded mandates, according to Ralston. Those are actions the state requires the school districts to enact without providing any funding for them, which could cause major budgetary problems.

Both Furlong and Stith have hard jobs that are becoming increasingly harder. A working budget is always a work in progress, according to Stith.

“Budgeting has become more difficult for school districts,” he said. And will continue to do so as long as local and state revenue continues to shrink while the demands of their districts grow.