CLEARFIELD – At Monday night’s budget work session, members of the Clearfield school board heard a gloomy forecast from their Business Manager Sam Maney, which left them contemplating a 3-mill tax increase for 2016-17.
According to the preliminary budget, the district is projecting to end the current-year with a $1.3 million deficit. In the upcoming-year, it’s projecting revenues in the amount of $34.8 million and expenditures of $39.6 million, which would mean a $4.8 million deficit.
The district’s fund balance totaled $12.1 million on June 30, 2015. If the district realizes the deficits, it would be $10.8 million on June 30, 2016 and $5.9 million on June 30, 2017.
Although his initial budget presentation is the annual “worse-case scenario,” Maney declined to forecast any large surpluses like those the district has been fortunate enough to come away with in recent years.
According to Maney, state and federal revenue sources continue to shrink for the district. In 2009-10, the district’s revenue sources were 38 percent from local, 57 percent from state and 5 percent from federal.
In 2014-15, the district’s revenue sources were 42 percent from local, 55 percent from state and 3 percent from federal. “Our number is growing, the state number is starting to come down slightly and the federal number is falling off,” he said.
“You may say ‘oh well, 4 percent isn’t that much.’ But 4 percent of a $36-million budget is $1.4 million. That equates to about 11 mills … It’s happening and it’s going to continue to happen, and we’re not seeing where anything is going to change.”
Maney also called attention to the fact that Special Education costs have risen significantly over the years for the district. It’s been unable to keep up, he said, and the burden continues to fall upon the district.
He said in 2009-10, the district’s net cost for Special Education was $1.2 million, or 34 percent. In 2014-15 he said it’d grown to $2.9 million, or 58 percent.
“Look at what is happening,” said Maney. “I would love to say that the state is going to wake up and see that we cannot run these programs without some help.”
For 2016-17, the district has budgeted $13 million under Basic Education funding and $1.7 million under Special Education funding, which are figures Maney pulled from Gov. Tom Wolf’s published budget proposal.
When asked by board member Tim Morgan, Maney said he used figures from the governor’s budget proposal because that’s all he has to go by at this point. “The [state budget] talks haven’t gotten very far,” said Maney.
Adding to the district’s financial gloom has been the state’s moratorium on PlanCon reimbursements. Maney said that the state currently owes the district approximately $1.7 million in arrearages, and it would get another $600,000 through PlanCon next year.
Maney said he and Superintendent Terry Struble participated in a Webinar during which it was stated the Commonwealth Finance Authority had talks about paying the PlanCon reimbursements to school districts up-to-date.
He said during the webinar, someone asked if PlanCon reimbursements should be included in their budget for 2016-17, and the reply was “yep.” Maney, on the other hand, has opted not to include it in Clearfield’s budget just yet.
“Here, we don’t spend money until we see it,” he said. “They were talking like this a year ago, and we still don’t have it. I’m not comfortable with going there yet. If it comes, we can address it at that time.”
Maney said if the PlanCon reimbursement starts to come in, it will help the district’s financial position. At the same time, he said he wasn’t sure if it would close all of the district’s funding gaps.
In terms of expenditures for 2016-17, the district has budgeted $14.9 million for salaries and $10.7 million for benefits. On the topic of benefits, Maney pointed out that the biggest increases were related to medical insurance and retirement rates.
“[Public School Employees’ Retirement System] rates went up from 25.84 percent to 29.69 percent,” he said. “They will crest, go up over 30 percent and probably stay around there.”
Maney noted the district’s plans to use the former Centre Elementary School. Additionally, he said in 2016-17 it may have a possible tenant for another part of the building.
As a result, Maney looked back and budgeted costs for the electricity, water/sewage, etc., as he had for past years for the building. He used a “worse-case” cost scenario for if the entire building is in operation.
Maney explained that the district is currently using a block of the building for storage. However, it wasn’t going to use the entire building. Struble said there are a couple potential tenants that offer private services, and they currently serve the district.
Maney said that the district’s consolidation has saved it money, but now it’s starting to settle in where it’s going to be. He said: “We have a pretty good idea of where we’re going, but the trouble is our revenue isn’t growing the same.”
He wanted to initiate talks on the district’s financial situation looking to the future. If the state doesn’t change the way it funds the district, he said the “burden is going to rest upon us and it’s only going to get worse.”
At that point, board member Mary Anne Jackson asked Maney how much the district would be able to raise taxes without a referendum. Maney said it was permitted to raise taxes to about 3 mills, which would equate to about $$360,000 to $400,000.
Maney advised the board that it would eventually get to the point where the projected deficits were going to happen. “And, I’m here to tell you that we’re getting about there. I think we can look at justifying [a tax increase] now,” he said.
He said the district has gone four years without a tax increase. “But I don’t know where we are going to finish,” he added. “I think we can make up the $1.3 million, but I don’t think we can make up another $1.3 million on top of that.”
When Morgan asked if Maney would have additional information between now and the board’s vote on the tentative budget, he said no, and that he wouldn’t be any more certain on whether the district would break even, face a deficit or end with a surplus for the current-year.
“I’m not all that worried with the current-year’s number. I think we can make that up and do a little better,” Maney said. “The number I am concerned with is for next year. When you get up over $4 million, it’s going to be hard to make up.”
Morgan said that if the district doesn’t do something this year, it’s going to miss out on an opportunity. “If you miss $400,000, you don’t have a chance to get it back,” he said.
“We really have to be thinking about making up some of this deficit for next year. There’s nowhere to go but to our people.”
Maney said the district was in the same financial position as all of the others across the state.
The district will vote on its tentative 2016-17 budget at the end of May. It will then go on public display before being finalized at the end of June.