At the Sept. 24 Board of Education meeting, Assistant Superintendent for Business Matt Bourgeois presented the district’s multi-year budget projections, which included the early forecast of a $3.8 million budget gap for next year.

The gap is the difference between the spending that would be necessary to fund all current programs and services next year and the revenue that is expected to be available. The estimate includes a 2 percent increase in the property tax levy. Bourgeois emphasized that while the budget gap is an early estimate, it is a good indicator of the scale of the challenges the district will face in developing a budget for next year.

View the presentation from the meeting [PDF]

The backdrop for the projections are: the persistent economic downturn; state aid that is expected to be flat in some categories and down in others; and increased costs in areas such as health insurance and pension contributions. Additionally, because the district drew down its reserves to preserve programs in recent years, they are not available to offset costs increases and revenue losses as it enters the fifth consecutive year of this difficult economic period for schools.

Bourgeois said that given all of the information currently available, the district’s property tax levy threshold under the state’s property tax levy cap will be in the neighborhood of the 2 percent increase. As it does every year, the Board will decide on the tax levy during its budget development process as it weighs all of the factors and shapes a proposal for the community vote in May.

Officials will continue to fine-tune its projections in the coming months. They are looking at the estimates and beginning the conversation at this early stage because of the significant fiscal challenges the district continues to face.

The district will continue to keep the community informed about budget issues through its website.

Multi-year projections

Because the district is focused on reducing expenditures rather than using reserves as it has in recent years, future gaps are projected to be significantly less than next year. They are estimated in the neighborhood of $1.3 million for each of the two years following 2013-14.