Recent state legislation puts Lindbergh in a bind

By Audrey Spalding
Show-Me Institute

Recently passed legislation may be hurting school districts, especially when combined with the economic recession’s impact on property values. Certainly, Assistant Superintendent Patrick Lanane laid partial blame on the schedule to report assessed valuation estimates, laid out in Senate Bill 711,  for the Lindbergh School District’s $1.3 million budget crunch.

During its Tuesday meeting, the Lindbergh Board of Education listened aghast as Lanane presented what he called a “financial alert.”

Missouri school districts rely on property tax levies for a large amount of their annual revenue. Districts watch that revenue carefully when making their budget for the next year.

“We absolutely live and die by those numbers,” Lanane said.

In the case of Lindbergh, commercial land value estimates given to the district in March totaled $45 million more than the revisions — given to Lanane July 1. That difference, he said, will result in a $1.33 million revenue loss.

“The timing couldn’t be worse,” Lanane said. “We’ve had our budget workshops. We’ve adopted our budget.” To make matters worse, the district has already made many budget cuts.

Before S.B. 711, Lanane said, property assessors could give school districts property value estimates as late as May. Given the current economic recession, falling property prices mean that the earlier assessors have to give school districts property value estimates, the more inaccurate they could be, he said.

“Are they telling us we can’t trust those numbers?” Lanane said.

School Board President Kenneth Fey told Lanane to prepare to cut more. “I know that it was agonizing,” he said. “But I want you to look at every line item. Again.”

Administrators and board members sunk into a discussion of just how much declining property values would hurt the district, which hasn’t received much federal aid.

“For all practical purposes, we received no stimulus money in Lindbergh,” Lanane said.

The one solution Lanane could come up with was to ask district voters in the near future to approve a Proposition C rollback — a measure that would allow the district to keep a portion of state income tax revenues it usually gives back.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 22nd, 2009 at 7:31 am. Both comments and pings are currently closed.