Budget Buzz

MJM says in his weekly rant:

"The “new” Board is an obvious change that you can believe in.  June 30th will tell the tale when a final budget is adopted."

Our sources tell us that EHS is going to have 34 teachers approved to staff the building.  That is more teachers that Kittanning Junior High School, which has more students than EHS will have.  Also, sources tell us that the budget for 2010-2011 is slated to increase 3.2 million next year and the cost to reopen EHS is 3.6 million. Very interesting.

Right now, our sources are pretty good, but we want to show you proof.  Once we have our Right To Know information, we will publish it for all to see.

Comparing South Butler and Freeport to ASD - What's our plan?

Captures from two articles one on South Butler Area School District (Knoch) and one on Freeport Area School District From the VND 05/06/10


South Butler: raising taxes 2mils (an increase of 1.5-2mils is needed each year over the nxt 3yrs to pay for the increased state employee retirement costs. (Old rate 87.675 / New Rate 89.675). On a 15k property (yeh how many of those are there?) It raises the bill $30/yr. So if u have a 150k property (much more likely) your taxes are going up $300/yr.

Freeport cut their budget and they still have to raise taxes:

Buffalo Twp: was 118mils to 119mils (on a 15k property (again, how many of these are there? Taxes r going up $15/yr or $150/yr on a $150,000.00 property).

Freeport / South Buffalo: was 51mils now 53mils on a 30K property (again, why do they use these numbers?) Will be an increase of $60/yr. On a $150,000.00 will be $300/yr.

So how is the ASD going to add 2Million in staffing costs, a 20yr payment program on 20million for revamping an under-utilized facility, pay for the pensions that are coming due, etc.? And they (ASD Super Six) say they aren't raising our taxes to do this? So there must be going to be severe cuts to programs at the other schools in order to support what they are saying.

Interesting Quote from the South Butler School Board meeting:

"Supt. Frank Prazenica shared a warning received from State Lawmakers, which urges caution because of the state's $1 Billion deficit. It said there is "no guaranteed level of funding" for school districts or any other entities under the 2010-11 state budget.”

South Butler said that they will have to do this each year for the next three yrs. (This is just to take care of the pensions). So their taxes are going up $900-1,000.00 or MORE per property over the next three years.

What is our ASD boards plan? Oh, we haven't seen one from our ASD board.

Part I YOUR TAX MONEY

TheArmstrong School District Budget.
The numbers of the ASD budget are a point of controversy. Numbers have been changed, moved, combined and twisted to make things look better or worse, why should the ASD Board be able to use different accounting than we use in our households?
The most important factors are:

1. How much money is coming in?
2. How much money is being spent?

Following is a breakdown of Expenditures
and Income from the ASD Board meeting on February 22^nd, these numbers have not been manipulated.
For the 2008 – 2009 Budget, please note the following:
Total Revenue (including State / Federal Subsidies) $82,340,095
Total Expenditures (including debt servicing) $83,440,253
Surplus / Deficit (FY 2008-09) -$ 1,100,158
Surplus Balance $ 5,000,000 (rounded)
Surplus Balance for FY 2009-2010 $ 4,000,000 (rounded)
Thanks to cost cutting from the administration, our balance has a surplus of over $4,000,000, this excess is used as justification that our district is in sound financial shape.

Can Your TAX dollars PAY for Your SCHOOLS?
The table below provides a straight forward example of YOUR TAXES and the EXPENDITURES for each attendance area. This does not include debt servicing or other items, which will be discussed later.

Attendance Area	TAX REVENUE	SCHOOL EXPENSES	Surplus / Deficit
Elderton	$ 4,896,427	$ 7,782,046	-$2,885,619
Ford City	$ 7,886,459	$12,029,133	-$4,142,674
Kittanning	$12,960,139	$17,834,557	-$4,874,418
West Shmakoin	$ 5,575,980	$11,115,967	-$5,539,987
Surplus/Deficit			$17,442,698

No attendance area pays for itself.
On a per student basis, Kittanning has a deficit of $2,242 per student, the lowest of all attendance areas.

YOUR TAX DOLLARS AND STATE/FEDERAL MONEY
The following table includes debt servicing, STATE and FEDERAL money (really this is YOUR money as well) included in YOUR taxes.

Attendance Area	State/Federal Money	Tax Revenue	School Expenses	Debt Service and other	Surplus / Deficit
Elderton	$ 7,447,573	$ 4,896,427	$ 7,782,046	$ 5,010,215	$ 448,261
Ford City	$12,910,845	$ 7,866,459	$12,029,133	$ 8,688,057	$ 39,886
Kittanning	$19,837,861	$12,960,139	$17,834,557	$13,348,295	$1,615,148
West Shamokin	$11,344,020	$ 5,575,980	$11,115,967	$ 7,631,983	$1,827,950
Deficit		$31,299,005			$ 700,949

The data in the table, are a little confusing. There is a formula for State/ Federal money which is
complicated, such as the number of special needs students, poverty levels etc. It will take a while to get the data and put it in a useful format.
What is important is our District is losing money on day to day operations!

Questions:

1. Does the Kittanning area generate that much excess?
2. Does West Shamokin area generate such a huge deficit?
3. How is Ford City “about” breaking even?
4. What about Elderton?

Results Based on % of Enrollment
Just for fun, lets take the State/Federal Money and divide it based on the percentage enrollment of each attendance area. Please find the information below:

Attendance Area	% of Enrollment	Increase / Decrease in State/ Federal Assistance	Surplus / Deficit
Elderton	14.5	$ 358,071	$806,332
Ford City	25.0	$ 41,708	$ 81,594
Kittanning	38.5	$ 910,022	$705,126
West Shamokin	22.0	$1,309,801	$518,149
			$700,949

By removing the State’s formula, and distributing money based on enrollment numbers, we get a picture, of how things would look if all things were equal (we understand they are not). There is something in the state’s formula which favors Kittanning and Elderton, ( greatly) yet West Shamokin seems to lose in this formula.

That is another Story.

Watch Out for Part II

Click here for supporting documents that were handed out at the February 22 ASD board meeting that SUPPORT the facts in this article!