Just when we thought the influx of federal money to our state might be helpful for school districts and the state budget, we get the news that the latest state revenue collection report shows tax collections are up from a year ago, but the collections for the July 11-Aug 10 period are approximately $24 million less than predicted in the June forecast. If the trend continues as anticipated in the September report the state will be in the red, something that will require immediate and potentially significant changes to state programs. This trend is on top of the projected $3 billion shortfall for the 2011-13 biennium.
In her announcement, the Governor is asking state agency heads to prepare for 4-7% budget cuts beginning on October 1st. What this might mean for public schools is not known, but one area of potential cuts as shared by the Governor is to Local Effort Assistance (levy equalization) because it is not under the basic education umbrella. If the projections end up being accurate, our state will need to change the way we do business and, unfortunately, that will include us.
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