Program, staff cuts to keep school levy 'flat'
Staff writer
Unwilling to raise taxes to maintain the status quo, Marion-Florence Board of Education members made the decision this past March to cut staff and programs.
That effort is reflected in a proposed 2004-05 school year budget that increases the mill levy only 0.002 mills from 46.194 mills in 2003-04 to the 46.196 mills.
A mill generates $1 for every $1,000 in assessed valuation.
"We kept the mill levy basically flat," Business manager Martin Tice said.
The public hearing on the proposed district budget is set for 7 p.m. Monday at the central office, 101 N. Thorp in Marion.
During the hearing, school board members can decrease the budget but cannot make any increases, according to state statute.
The maximum allowable proposed general fund budget is $4,428,157, down $150,000 from 2003-04, when the general fund budget totaled $4,573,019. The supplemental general fund, also known as the local option budget, is down $240,000 from $970,000 this past year to $730,000 in the proposed budget.
Although Marion-Florence taxpayers are being asked to provide the same amount of tax money as during the previous year, the district's overall budget is lower because enrollment continues to drop.
The proposed budget is based on a three-year average enrollment of 649.4 total students. Estimated enrollment for the upcoming school year is 631students.
"In making budgets, we use the figure which gives us the higher numbers," Superintendent Lee Leiker said.
Declining enrollment has been a trend in the district — and across most of Kansas — for several years now. The 2000-01 full-time equivalancy enrollment was 724.3. That number dropped 20.2 in budget year 2001-02 to 704.1. From 2001-02 to 2002-02, enrollment dropped 21.4 to 682.7.
At the beginning of the previous school year, 2003-04, enrollment plummeted to 634.4.
"And we don't know where they went," Tice said.
State funding has not increased in several years. It remains at 20 mills per pupil.
"If the state does nothing and enrollment remains down the district is looking at another $100,000 loss next year," Tice told board members during a July 20 special meeting.
When the board made the decision this past spring to cut jobs and programs rather than increase taxes it could have used its local option budget authority.
The district, however, used only part of its authority to raise the $730,000. The maximum 25 percent LOB authority would have brought in $1,107,039, but also would have meant a tax increase.
Concerning other portions of the proposed budget, a new line item — the Kansas Public Employee Retirement System Special Retirement Contribution — has been added this year.
"KPERS is now being written through the district budget," Tice told board members. "I'm predicting $188,168 will pass in and out, and we may get to pay an electronic transfer fee on top of that."
The stated reason for running KPERS retirement contribution through the school district's budget is to give a "truer view of what the state actually spends on education," Leiker said.
"But the conspiracy theory is that they're going to expect districts to pick this up in the future," Tice said. "It doesn't affect the local option budget at this point, but it may in the future because some districts are tapped out."
Besides the KPERS budget item, there is another "pass through" item for special education. That addition to Kansas school district budgets, made two years ago, increases the general fund, which gives districts the ability to increase their local option budget authority.
Even though the local levy is only up 0.002 mills, Tice said taxpayers probably will see a slightly higher tax bill because of an increase in valuation. The general fund assessed valuation in the proposed budget is $22,742,111, compared with $22,353,155 during the 2003-04 school year.
Last year's valuation — the $22,353,155 — was down considerably from previous school years. The new valuation shows a rebound.
Even though taxpayers will not see major increases in their USD 408 taxes, the district still will have budget considerations to confront in the future. If enrollment trends remain the same and there's no change in state funding, it may mean another difficult round of spring board meetings.
"I hope somebody out there has the guts to work this out," board member Roger Hannaford III said during the July special meeting. "The way we're going with less pupils means we're going to have to be making some cuts again."
District officials, however, are optimistic the Supreme Court will make a decision that will help all Kansas schools financially by forcing the state legislature to increase state aid.
A lawsuit, which will be decided by the Kansas Supreme Court this year, will decide whether the current school funding formula violates the Kansas Constitution by failing to provide adequate funding for a suitable education. The suit also will decide whether the formula provides a rational basis for disparities in the distribution of money.
Oral arguments are scheduled for the week of Aug. 30.
Officials think a decision could come as early as mid-October, but Leiker said any remedies put in place by the Kansas Legislature would come to late for this school year.
"It's too early to predict what legislative funding will do," Leiker said. "But I want to remain optimistic."
