Canon-Mac has $737K Budget Shortfall for 2012-13

Joni Mansmann told the on Monday that preliminary numbers show the district still has a $737,000 shortfall in its 2012-13 spending plan.

That equates to a little more than 2 mills.

The budget is expected to be about $61.7 million for the 2012-13 school year. The current millage rate is 105.41. That means that a person whose home is assessed at $50,000 paid about $1,317 in school taxes this year.

 “The forecast looks a little brighter than the preliminary budget passed in January,” she said, explaining the numbers given to the district by the Department of Education then would have meant a more than million-dollar shortfall.

Mansmann, the district’s director of business and finance, said the new forecast was a reflection of new numbers given to the district—but she stressed that the figures still included many unknown variables.

She told the board she will be meeting with department heads to ensure their budgets do not have any changes since the preliminary budget earlier this year. 

Mansmann said she hopes to present a final preliminary budget to the board in April.

At that point she will likely make a recommendation on how the board should reconcile the shortfall—whether it is through a tax increase, cuts or the use of capital reserve funds to bridge the budget gap.