$5 million state aid cut is good news

Wow. It could have been so, so much worse.

The district's general state aid and poverty aid will drop by about $5 million, far less that district officials had feared.

The figures from the Department of Public Instruction are preliminary and could change, but here's a big preliminary "Whew!" that also might change if the numbers do.

Superintendent William Andrekopoulos sent a notification to the School Board yesterday explaining the ramifications of the aid figure.

The DPI aid information and new revenue limit estimates indicate the School Board could increase the combined School Operations / Construction Fund tax levies for FY10 by an estimated maximum of $7.5 million, or about 2.7%, from the amounts levied for FY09. Such an increase would generate the maximum allowable revenue under state law and would position the district to claim maximum state aids in FY11 and beyond. (The Extension Fund is not included in revenue limit calculations.)

The budget adopted by the Board last month needs to be trimmed $3 million to meet revenue limits, but the Board has made preparations to do that.

Andrekopoulos said property values were a largely responsible for the not-completely-horrid aid news.

The district fared relatively well in a terrible aid environment due largely to decreased property values, a key factor in the aid formula that the state believes reflects community wealth. For FY09, the district’s property value per member was 64.2% of the statewide average, according to the Department of Public Instruction; for FY10, it is 62.1%.