STATE AID TOTAL FALLS WELL SHORT OF AMOUNT NEEDED TO CLOSE BUDGET GAP
JAMESTOWN – With state lawmakers finalizing the total amount of education aid in the new fiscal year budget, Jamestown Public School officials now know how much state aid the district will receive for the 2015-16 school year.
According to state aid runs released by the State Assembly on Tuesday, Jamestown is set to receive a total of $60.15 million in funding for the next school year, although a $8.5 million is to be used for only building related projects. That leaves Jamestown with $51.58 million of state aid money that can be used for programming needs – a $1.9 million increase from the school year.
The State Aid Runs for Jamestown Public Schools as they appear in the finalized 2015-16 State Budget.
However, that increase in state – which amounts to about 3.8 percent – is not nearly enough to close a $4.9 million budget gap for the district. That means school officials will have to make some tough decisions when finalizing the budget, starting next week.
School officials are left with few options. They could raise the property tax, but even if they were to raise it the maximum 3.25 percent allowed under the state property tax law, it would still only result in just under $500,000 more in additional revenue. And school officials have already said a 1.5 percent hike would be the highest increase they would be comfortable with – resulting in just over $220,000 more in additional revenue.
That means the school board will have to rely on eliminating programming and some positions to close the remaining budget gap.
School officials plan on addressing the budget and review options for closing the multi-million dollar spending gap when the board holds its next meeting on Tuesday, April 7.
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