School Board faces bleak budget year

The Aiken County Board of Education got the news it expected Tuesday - a depressing budget forecast for 2010-11.

At a special work session, School District Comptroller Tray Traxler noted that the S.C. House Ways and Means Committee has proposed a $1,625 allocation for per-pupil spending - about the 1995 level.

"That doesn't make any sense," said Vice Chair Rosemary English following the meeting. "You don't go to the grocery store expecting to get items at 1995 prices. I don't know what kind of thought process is going on in Columbia and Washington."

If that per-student allocation is approved by the full General Assembly, the funding could increase five percent every year, and it would still take 11 years to get the per-student appropriation back to the level through a formula established decades ago.

Traxler pointed out that state Education Finance Act appropriations were about $48 million at the beginning of 2009-10 last summer. After two mid-year budget cuts, the allocation dropped to $42.4 million.

The projected 2010-11 EFA funding is $38 million and could drop another $900,000 depending on some pending legislation. In effect, the EFA budget is about $4.6 million out of balance, although Traxler was quick to point out that the school district has flexibility to offset a significant portion of that amount.

Like others across the state, the school district is struggling despite an influx of federal stimulus funds for low-income schools and special education and federal stabilization funds intended to ease the budget shortfalls - a total of about $11 million. Those funds will be gone in the 2011-12 fiscal year.

Other than flexibility opportunities, the School Board has limited options once again with as much as 90 percent of its budget related to salaries, fringe benefits and related expenditures.

A year ago, the School Board had decided to avoid furloughs for teachers and other personnel, only to reinstate the unpaid days off after the first mid-year state budget cut last August. Traxler suggested some savings could be realized for additional modifications to the district's alternative school programs.

"If March revenues go down enough," Traxler said, "we could be in for another cut."

For the past four years, the district's contingency account has gradually decreased. In tight economic times, the school system should have cash flow for a 30-day period, but the current contingency funds of less than $10 million is only enough for 17 days.

The additional hit of $900,000 could come from a mandated adjustment of the Index of Taxing Ability. Unless the Legislature agrees to halt it for next year, primary residences would fall out of the ITA calculation.

"It's not equitable in districts across the state, and Aiken would be one of the higher ones penalized," said School Board attorney Bill Burkhalter. "Spartanburg and some other counties have started litigation against the state to stop the implementation of it."

Contact Rob Novit at rnovit@aikenstandard.com.