Educated guesses drive budgets

March 13, 2005

JOEL DAVIDSON/Frontiersman reporter

MAT-SU - Education expenditures are a hot topic these days as local boroughs and school districts, statewide, wait to find out just how much money the state Legislature is approving for the upcoming school year.

On Wednesday, the Senate Finance Committee listened to public comments from educators, school board members and special-interest groups from across the state, all lobbying for more money for education.

Mat-Su Borough School District officials hope legislators act soon so they can finalize budget numbers for the Valley. Until then, the district's final hiring, rehiring and budget adjustments must remain tentative.

Each March, the school district administration assesses its funding needs and takes into account probable state and borough contributions, before presenting a highly fluid budget to the school board. The school board considers public testimony and then forms an educated guess on state and borough governments' funding levels before presenting a budget for the borough's consideration.

School Board President Mike Chmielewski said the school board attempts to present a conservative budget to the borough, which can possibly be added to if more money becomes available.

"It's very painful to people if you give false hope," Chmielewski said. "We like to pick a number that is relatively low."

The school board is currently considering a $131-million budget for next year that would enable the district to maintain most current operations while adding a few staff positions and a new charter school. On March 16, the school board will hear final public comments before voting on the budget and sending it to the borough Assembly.

The budget proposal, now before the school board, also takes into account that the borough will provide the maximum funding level under state law - just over $40 million.

The Assembly, however, usually waits to approve the school district's budget until it knows state funding levels from the Legislature.

"We need to know what the Legislature is going to do," Assembly Member Bill Allen said, "but it's not only the Legislature; it also has to pass the governor's veto. He has line-item-veto authority."

According to borough statutes, the assembly must adopt a final budget by May 31.

On Tuesday, Mat-Su school board members and administrators met with the borough Assembly to discuss, among other things, the education budget.

Gov. Frank Murkowski's proposed per-student allotment of $4,869 increases last year's per-student allotment by $293. House Bill 1, currently in the state Senate, would further increase that number to $4,919 per student.

If that number passes into law, the Mat-Su School District could see more than $1 million more than what it has budgeted for from the state.

"There are a lot of numbers floating around," said Mat-Su School Board President Mike Chmielewski. "We used the governor's numbers but our hope is an increase to the formula that will allow us to go to the laundry list of important things that need to be done."

Over the next few weeks, Allen will be heading to Juneau to get a better feel for how the Legislature is approaching this year's budget, including the education budget.

"It's not at all unusual for this to go until the last minute," he said.

Contact Joel Davidson at joel.davidson@frontiersman.com.