Bowing Green schools Treasurer Rhonda Melchi was required by law to present the board
with a five-year forecast of the district’s finances at its Tuesday meeting.
The timing of the presentation though comes just three weeks before voters decide on
the district’s request to boost income taxes by.75 percent.
In the six months since Melchi last gave the mandated fiscal overview to the board,
the district’s financial picture has grown bleaker.
Now, without the income tax increase, she said, the schools will face a $66,000
deficit in May 2014, and after that the district’s balance “just plummets.”
The problems stem from reductions in aid from the state. The district is losing
another $567,000 as the state continues it phase out of the Tangible Personal
Property tax on businesses. And, Melchi said, the money meant to offset those
losses has not come through.
The state has also passed a new law that lets handicapped students with learning
disabilities attend private schools with public schools on the hook for as much
as $20,000 to pay for the schooling.
Melchi said the current estimate is that will cost the district $127,000 this year.
“I expect that to go up,” she said.
Income tax revenues have declined because of the economic downturn, and while they
have begun to rebound, they have not come all the way back, the treasurer said.
Like everyone else, Melchi said, the district is not reaping anything by way of
interest from its deposits and investments.
Looking ahead, she said, she was “optimistic” and calculated that state funding would
remain the same. Even as the state rejiggers its school funding formula she does
not expect “any additional money” coming to the district.The district has
reduced staff through attrition and closed school buildings. After this school
year, for example, it will have three elementary schools.
That’s both better educationally, Melchi said, as well as a saving. School staff are
in the second year of freeze on their base salary. However, teachers continue to
receive increases for years of service and additional education.
While these cuts have helped and the staff must still be vigilant about spending,
Melchi said: “We cannot cut our way out of the deficit.”
If passed, she said, it would take 18 months for income tax collections to generate
the full amount of the levy, about $4 million annually.
The school financial condition is expected to come up when Superintendent Ann McVey
delivers her state of the schools address Thursday at 6:30 p.m. in the
Performing Arts Center.
