Beginning the Budget for FY13

I would like to share some numbers that might help anchor the emerging discussion of school district funding.  According to a spreadsheet provided by School District Superintendent for the January 31 joint meeting of the School District and the Borough Assembly, the Borough’s contribution to the school district’s instructional budget has increased every year since FY04.  

There has not been one year in the past nine when the Borough contributed less than it had the previous year.  Student population fluctuates; some years it is less than others.  However, Borough contributions have not fluctuated with the student population. Borough contributions have always gone up, except for FY11, even if student population has declined.  In FY11 the contribution for instruction remained the same as in FY10 ($1,694,044).  In FY12, the contribution increased to $1,744,865, even though the student count dropped from 307 to 300.

The amount of increase ranges from tiny ($4,820) to significant ($150,00).  The contribution to the district’s instructional program does not include the contribution to the Activities Fund ($210,000 in FY12), for public works and facilities work orders  ($11,200), or the 1.5 mil collected from property tax for the school bond payment.

It is true that the Borough does not make the maximum contribution allowed by the state funding formula. But it is also true that the difference between what is allowed and what is contributed has increased every year for the past 9 years.  The state formula is based in part on the total assessed value of all the property in the borough.  It is a complicated formula and I am ashamed to say that I don’t really understand it.

Forty percent of the Borough General Fund expenses (Fund 01) are accounted for by allocation of funds to the Haines Borough School District.  There is no doubt that Haines treasures its school.  The numbers tell the tale.  There is also no doubt that we would all be better off if the State legislature did not wait until the end of the session to determine school funding, and that it would be preferable to increase the state base student allotment.  The Borough Assembly will consider a resolution to encourage the legislature and the Governor to do just that at its next regular meeting February 14.