School Board Adopts Budget

The Board of Trustees of the adopted a budget tonight based on Governor Brown's May revise, the governor's revised budget released in May.  The budget adopted last night assumes revenues and expenditures of $31.4 million. 

The largest portion of revenue is unrestricted funds from the state of $25.1 million.  The district is also taking advantage of rules allowing it to move some restricted funding into the general fund.  The newly adopted budget moves $1.7 million out of restricted funds.

The largest area of expenditures, $27,135,393, are salaries and benefits.  The balance of the expenditures are services and supplies. 

The district has a $6.7 million reserve.

The projected revenues are based on some assumptions that may not prove true.  The biggest is that tax extensions proposed by Governor Jerry Brown will be approved by the voters.  $1.6 million of the budget adopted by the school board would come from those tax extensions.

Before the citizens of California can vote on those extensions the legislature must approve them and that is proving a difficult task.  So far no Republican in either the state senate of the state assembly has voted in favor of letting the proposed extensions go on a state-wide ballot.

Asked what the district would do if the tax extensions do not get passed, Chief Business Officer Tim Rahill said, “If the tax extensions don’t go through then we would consider tapping the reserve.”

“We have the option of waiting to deal with the fallout until the 2012/2013 school year or we can deal with the issue sooner if we choose,” he said.

The $6.7 million reserve fund is well above the state mandated 3 percent and Rahill has already earmarked the $1.6 million in the reserve in case the tax exemptions aren’t passed.