Spending cuts eyed by Indiana Area School District
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By Gina DelFavero, The Blairsville Dispatch, Pa.
Jan. 26--The financial durability of the Indiana Area School District was a topic of lengthy discussion for the school board at a special meeting held Monday night that included an overview of the 2012-13 district programs and the passing of a preliminary budget.
The board voted at its Dec. 12 meeting to keep its real estate tax millage options open by declining to adopt a resolution to not raise that millage above the 2.1 percent local economic index that is noted in the Act 1 Taxpayer Relief Act of 2006.
The preliminary budget that was approved Monday night, which was originally presented to the board by Business Manager Dale Kirsch at the Dec. 12 meeting, is a very rough sketch of what the final budget will eventually look like, and simply sets the maximum tax rate that the board could enact in its final budget numbers.
"It just feels fulfills state requirements,"?said Robert Gongaware, who serves as chairman of the board's newly formed finance committee. "This just reflects the projection we're turning in that's mandated by PDE (Pennsylvania Department of Education). This will not be what we actually end up adopting, tax-wise or budget-wise."
"We haven't had a final budget that looks exactly like the preliminary in forever," said board member David Ferguson. "There's always a change."
For the 2012-13 fiscal year, the projected preliminary budget roughly calculates an expected $47,056,532 in revenue and $47,704,766 in expenses, meaning the district will likely have to draw from its fund balance in order to even out the budget.
The preliminary numbers reflect an upper real estate limit of 106.52 mills. Currently, the school district has millage set at 101.39 mills. Remaining unchanged for the preliminary budget are the tax on earned income, staying steady at 0.75 percent, and the 0.5 percent tax on the transfer of real property.
Board member Dr. Terry Ray abstained from the vote to pass the preliminary budget, saying he had not yet had enough time to look over the numbers.
In her review of the programs, Superintendent Deborah Clawson said she did not expect full discussion of the programs at Monday's meeting, but she wanted to know what the administration's options are as they continue to discuss what programs to maintain as is, to reduce, or to completely eliminate.