From the Chesterton Tribune:
...
Assistant Superintendent Dave Pruis presented the Duneland School
Board with figures from the certified 2012 budget order released on Feb. 13 and
compared it to what was estimated in September’s advertised budget.
The state will hand out $35,682,954, to Duneland’s general fund –
the fund which pays for staff salaries and programs -- more than $800,000 less
than what was originally projected in the advertised budget ($36,500,000).
Duneland Schools Superintendent Dirk Baer said the state’s new funding formula
collected by state sales tax has reduced the general fund by more than $4.5
million.
Pruis said the tuition support distribution from the state based
on the average daily membership for this year will be $4,939 per student, a
decline from the $4,970 given for each student in 2011, $5,078 in 2010 and
$5,228 seen in 2009.
Overall, the school corporation will see a $3.5 million difference
between the final figures and what was anticipated in all its funds with its
total budget of $58,797,754 compared to the appropriated budget of $62,304,939.
“This is where we are at this particular point in time. It is what
it is,” said Pruis.
For this year in funds outside the general fund: Debt Service-
$8,793,490; School Pension Debt - $1,598,145; Capital Projects - $8,220,155;
Transportation - $3,815,690; Bus Replacement - $687,320. The state reports the
total levy to be $20,863,479.
The Capital Projects fund and the Bus Replacement fund, which are
generated by property taxes, saw reductions of $2.4 million and $300,000
respectively.
The tax rate for the school district failed once again to meet the
levels seen in 2008 when the state legislature initiated the tax rate caps
statewide. For 2012, the state budget order rendered a tax rate of .8632, which
is .0080 higher than last year but .60 less than the 2008 tax rate, Pruis
said.
The district’s total Assessed Value is estimated at $2,416,992,465
this year which is $4.6 million less than for 2011.
...
Baer said “the real issue now” is to restore money to the general
fund. The board approved a referendum at their Feb. 13 meeting that, if passed,
would offset the shortfalls by restoring the $4.5 million in state cuts. Voters
in the May 8 referendum will be asked whether they approve a tax increase of 22
cents per $100 on their assessed property value.
...
As Baer mentioned previously, to live within the means of the
state’s appropriations, the school corporation would see its teaching staff
reduced by 20 positions, about 30 percent of clerical staff and in-school aides
would be terminated as would 35 percent of co-curricular staff.
...
http://www.chestertontribune.com/Education%20Duneland%20Schools/410122%20state_hits_duneland_schools_with.htm
