02/02/10
State forecasts $40,000 loss in subsidy for Cape Elizabeth next year
Cape Elizabeth is forecasted to lose $40,000, or 1.5 percent, of state and federal education funding next year according to preliminary subsidy amounts announced Feb. 1, 2010 by the State Department of Education.
The preliminary amounts, published as "initial" guidance for school systems as they prepare budgets for 2010-2011, estimates Cape Elizabeth's subsidy at $2,531,239 in state and federal funding next year, a loss of $40,031 from the $2,571,271 allocated to Cape Elizabeth in 2009-2010.
"These subsidy amounts for the FY2010-11 year are only preliminary and do not represent final action of the 124th Legislature and therefore should only be used as 'initial' guidance for your budget preparations," said state Education Commissioner Susan Gendron, in an informational letter to superintendents Feb. 1, 2010.
Still, $40,000 is quite a bit less than the $900,000 drop Cape Elizabeth school officials had been expecting. "It's a lot better news than what we had anticipated," said Business Manager Pauline Aportria.
The 1.5-percent loss is in relation to the Legislature's approved allocation of General Purpose Aid to Education to Cape Elizabeth for this year, 2009-10. Soon after the start of the school year, the state announced a proposed curtailment of funding statewide which, if approved as part of the supplemental budget, is expected to cut Cape Elizabeth's funding for this year by $621,440.
The 2010-2011 subsidy numbers are preliminary, and neither next year's funding nor the curtailment proposal will be final until the Legislature passes a supplemental budget.
Statewide, the proposed 2010-2011 subsidy package is $92 million less than was anticipated a year ago.
The preliminary subsidy figures include federal stimulus monies, but no breakout of those funds have yet been made available. The 2010-2011 subsidy printout, slated for mailing Feb. 8, will give the School Department more information on the subsidy formula and what the federal funds are.
Rebecca Millett, chair of the School Board, and Kathy Ray, chair the board's finance committee, are scheduled to meet with their counterparts on the Town Council at 7:30 a.m. Wednesday, Feb. 3, in the superintendent's office at Town Hall to discuss schedules for budget workshops and adoption dates.
"I would just reiterate the fact that this is an estimate," Millett said of the preliminary subsidy spreadsheet. And, the informational letter from the commissioner is full of caveats. Given historical swings in state funding for education, "I am cautious about this report," she said.
Superintendent Alan Hawkins said he is scheduled to meet with the schools administrators this week to continue working on the School Department's 2011 budget, with a target of no tax increase.
If the $2.5 million estimated subsidy for Cape Elizabeth holds, school officials still face a $857,000 funding gap for next year. The School Department foresees that much will be needed to cover anticipated increases in salaries, benefits and special education costs. (Click here to view 2010-2011 budget outlook as of Dec. 8, 2009)
Hawkins said that Jim Reier, director of finance and operations for the Maine Department of Education, has indicated that a 6-percent decrease in Cape Elizabeth's state valuation resulted in a lower than expected reduction in projected state aid. Average state valuations rose 3 percent, Hawkins said.
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