BY ELAINE STIEB
Lake Orion Review Editor
With not much information coming out of Lansing, Lake Orion Finance Director Jillynn Keppler put together another very conservative budget for the upcoming school year.
‘We are estimating; we don’t have a glass ball,? Keppler told school board members on June 8. ‘We’re not seeing much change coming out of Lansing but by August we should have more definite ideas.?
The state of Michigan is in a school funding crisis.
Up until Proposal A was approved by voters in the 1990s, schools main revenue came primarily from property taxes. After Proposal A, school funding came directly from the state based on a per pupil formula and supported by a two cent increase in sales tax and the state lottery.
Currently the state is struggling economically and revenues are not growing fast enough to support increasing expenditures. Funding has stayed flat and/or decreased.
According to Keppler, 82 percent of Lake Orion’s revenue comes from state sources, the rest from local and federal sources.
This year Lake Orion will receive $7,909 per pupil from the state. That’s based on a blended student count of 7,625.
The proposed budget for 2005-06 shows revenues totally $63,619,155 and expenditures at $64,312,571, a deficient of almost $700,000.
Lake Orion is facing hefty increases in its health (10.5 percent) and retirement benefits (16.43 percent) costs this year. Last year, $1,449.977 was spent for special education. That’s estimated to increase to $1,842,082.
Decreases in spending will take place primarily in general administration and operations, maintenance and technology.
According to Keppler, school programs will be maintained at current levels.
Keppler did have some good news for school board members. Last year’s budget ended up having $250,000 in revenues over expenditures. That money will help decrease the $700,000 deficient in this year’s budget.
The school district’s fund balance at the end of this fiscal year is $9.5 million.