JAMESTOWN – The Jamestown School District didn’t get the answer it wanted from state officials, and now its faced with the challenge of closing a $4.6 million budget gap for next school year.
Tuesday night school superintendent Deke Kathman and assistant superintendent for administration Dale Weatherlow updated the board on the school’s finances for next year. As reported last month, the two learned that a wrinkle in the state building aid distribution process is preventing more than $3.88 million to come in for next year. The officials had hoped the state would be able to remediate the issue, but so far they’ve been unable to get the help they need.
As a result, the district will have to find other ways to pay for bonding it has taken out for past building projects and that is largely the reason why the district is faced with a large hole in next year’s budget. An $935,000 increase in benefits for teachers and staff is also a reason for the budget gap.
According to an article in Wednesday’s Jamestown Post Journal, Kathman used last night’s board meeting to offer some strategies to close the budget gap. They include using the district’s contingency line – or “rainy day fund” and also exhausting its debt service reserve fund. He said it can also hold off on borrowing for the next round of capitol projects and purchasing new school buses until after July 1.
If all three strategies are used, the district would still be faced with a budget gap of about $1.8 million. However, Kathman said he’s optimistic the district could still see an increase in state funding before the budget is finalized.
If the district doesn’t receive enough funding to close the gap, it will have to either make cuts to the budget – likely in the area of staffing – or increase it’s tax rate.
The school board has until the end of April to finalize its budget. A public hearing on the spending plan will be May 14 at Persell School and the budget vote will be May 21.
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