Funding for the Picayune School District from the Mississippi Adequate Education Program is diminishing.
The issue was discussed as part of the Picayune Separate Municipal School District’s budget hearing. District Finance Director Lisa Persick told the Board of Trustees that while she is asking the city of Picayune for a tax increase, it is possible increases in property assessments will allow her to rescind that request.
No matter what happens on that level, the district will have to dip into their cash reserves to make ends meet, but even if that is the case, they will still have plenty in that account.
The reason she expects total assessments to increase is because they have been steadily doing so for the past several years. Last year the assessments totaled $156,660,629, while two years ago they totaled $152,449,719.
Ad valorem taxes make up the bulk of the local revenue for the district. The total local revenue expected for the next fiscal year is $9.4 million, or 27 percent of the district’s total revenue of $35.2 million. State funding makes up 51 percent of that total at $17.8 million, with federal coming in at $7.7 million.
However, Persick expects to spend more than the district will receive. Her projected total expenditures are $35.9 million, with $19.6 million going to instruction, $13.3 million being used for support services and $2.5 million going towards non-instructional expenses. Other expenses include 16th section, construction and retiring of debt.
That means the district’s fund balance will be reduced by about $654,000 from $5.5 million to $4.9 million to make up the difference, but it will leave the fund balance at 19 percent of the district’s total expenditures, which is above the board’s mandate of 8 percent.
She said MAEP will be providing about $364,000 less than the year before.
Additionally part of the shortfall is due to step pay increases expected to be paid to staff next year, with no help from the state, Persick said. She expects the increase in payroll to be about $1.9 million.
Last year the district was able to purchase four new buses at an expense of about $340,000, and she set about $110,000 for the coming fiscal year should the board decide to buy another one.
The board took no action on the matter, since it was for discussion only. The budget will be on the next Board meeting’s agenda, which will be held on June 28 at noon.