School spending ‘stagnant’
NEW ROADS — The Pointe Coupee Parish school district’s proposed $20 million budget for the new fiscal year provides for a $493,000 increase in tax revenue, zero job cuts and includes $180,000 in projected costs for students who may leave the district through the state’s voucher program.
Chief Financial Officer Stephen Langlois described the district’s spending plan as “stagnant,” saying it contains about $18.8 million in projected expenditures, the same as last year’s budget.
Langlois presented a draft of the district’s 2012-13 fiscal year budget to the School Board on Thursday night during a special meeting.
Langlois attributed the increase in ad valorem tax revenue to the parish’s recent gains in reassessed property values.
During reassessment years such as 2012, if values increase, taxing bodies have the option of maintaining current millage rates, a process called “ rolling them forward,” to generate additional revenue.
In May, the school district decided it would roll forward its millage rates this year, resulting in a $400,000 projected revenue increase.
That revenue surge would help offset some of the costs Langlois said the school district may face should an estimated 30 students leave the school system through the state’s new voucher program.
Recent legislation gives students who attend poorly rated public schools, and who meet income requirements, the option of applying for state-funded vouchers to help offset tuition costs at private and parochial schools.
Langlois said he budgeted $6,000 each for Pointe Coupee voucher students based on tuition rates at private schools in the parish.
“We’re still waiting to see how many people are leaving and where they are going,” Langlois said after Thursday’s meeting.
School Superintendent Linda D’Amico told the board she expects to receive a final list of students who applied for vouchers within several weeks.
The board unanimously authorized a 15-day period for public review of the proposed budget. Board members are expected to vote on the 2012-13 budget during their Aug. 23 regular meeting.