From the New Castle Courier-Times:
Preliminary enrollment numbers for New Castle schools didn't drop nearly as much as expected, according to Supt. Steve Fisher. If only the same could be said for the corporation's assessed valuation.
School board members learned Monday night that while enrollment is down only 24.5 students from the previous year, the assessed valuation has dropped another $116 million.
"In the early 2000s, our assessed valuation was $850 million," Fisher said. "Last year, it was $577 million. This year, it's $461,796,000. We have a lot of corporations and businesses that are either struggling or no longer in town."
Fisher said corporation treasurer Megan Bell was planning to meet with Henry County Auditor Pat French to discuss the situation. Bell agreed with Fisher's assessment that the business decline is still hurting the school system.
"That's what I've been told," she said. "A lot of community property values are down."
Fisher said the impact would affect capital projects money used for building maintenance.
"We're going to need to do some things to help out our finances," Fisher said. "We're going to need that small loan we discussed at the last meeting."
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http://www.thecouriertimes.com/main.asp?Search=1&ArticleID=282838&SectionID=23&SubSectionID=45&S=1
