Money crunch hits Central Bucks

From the Intelligencer.

Money crunch hits CB
By CHRISTINA KRISTOFIC

Central Bucks School District is freezing spending on curriculum and athletics, borrowing and hiring new teachers next year and discretionary spending at each of its schools.

“We’re looking at everything we can to try to save as much money as we can,” district business manager David Matyas said this week.

“We’re going to look at what can we not buy this year. … Is it library books, textbooks? We’re looking at everything.”

Asked if the district is looking at a property tax rate increase for next school year, Matyas said, “We don’t have much clarity on that at all. …We probably won’t until February.”

Central Bucks’ budget for the 2008-09 school year is approximately $267 million.

Revenue hasn’t been coming in as district officials expected when they first drafted the budget at this time last year. The state Department of Education cut its subsidy to Central Bucks by about $1 million earlier this year, and district officials can’t begin to guess what the state might provide next year. Matyas told the school board he anticipates real estate transfer tax revenue will be about $765,000 less than the $4.27 million in the budget.

The district will likely earn about as much interest on its investments as officials expected — approximately $2.28 million.

Matyas said the district might get about $100,000 more in property tax revenue than the $174 million officials budgeted.

“You might as well call that flat. That’s nothing for a budget of our size,” Matyas said.

And earned income tax revenue is expected to be about $700,000 more than the $17.3 million in the district’s budget.

Expenses for this school year have been “pretty much on target,” Matyas said. But, as with everywhere else, expenses are expected to rise next year.

District officials are also trying to prepare for an expected spike in Central Bucks’ contribution to the state retirement program in 2012-13. Matyas said the district currently contributes approximately $10 million, and will have to contribute about $20 million in 2012-13.

The building, curriculum and athletic budgets — the budgets over which Matyas said the district has “some discretion” — will be frozen for the 2009-10 budget year. Finance director Tom McCambridge said the budgets make up about 3 percent of the school district’s overall budget.

The building budgets, Matyas explained, are managed by school principals and include the number of hours teacher aides work, how much copier machines get used, textbook purchases, library book purchases and cosmetic changes to the buildings.

The curriculum budget is the money the district spends on new curricula and training for teachers to implement it.

“For example, this year, we’re implementing a new science curriculum at the elementary level. That’s part of the curriculum budget. There’s a lot of staff development in that, a lot of new materials,” Matyas said. “That’s part of this year’s budget, so that will go through. The timing was good on that.”

The athletic budget is the money the district spends on coaches’ salaries, field-painting, and athletic uniforms and equipment.

Student enrollment in Central Bucks has been leveling out (the district gained only two new students this year), so district officials have decided not to create any new teaching positions.

Matyas said district officials don’t know yet what enrollment might be next year.

“We’re hoping it’s flat. We’re hoping we’re not going to experience any enrollment pressure. Enrollment pressure means new teaching positions,” Matyas said. “If we have one new kid or 500 new kids, our philosophy today is that we’re not hiring any new teaching positions.”

There is one exception to that rule, Matyas said.

District officials expect to hire five new autistic support teachers and one gifted support teacher.

“We have more special ed students we know that are coming into the K-12 population from pre-school. We also have students that are moving from the elementary to secondary level,” Matyas explained.

Matyas will present a draft budget of expenses to the school board at its regular meeting at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday.