AUSD Revenue Roller Coaster
Of the 90% of its revenue Alameda Unified School District receives from the State and Federal government, per pupil funding is the most important source of funds. AUSD was budgeted to receive $55 million of per pupil funding in 2008/09. Per pupil funding is important because it provides AUSD with ONGOING unrestricted monies it can use to pay for discretionary expenditures like salary increases, new educational programs and investments in programs like technology.
Ever since the bubble bursting of the DotCom economy, the State’s revenues have fluctuated wildly and as a result so have AUSD’s revenues. Most recently, the perfect storm of the housing collapse, credit crisis and severe economic turn down have reduced State revenues by over $20 billion from 2007/08 to 2008/09. What has been the impact on AUSD revenues? As of July 7th, there is not a definitive answer. The Governor and the Legislature are in the process of the redoing the 2009/10 budget they passed in February, 2009. Below is the chronology of the events that have occurred in the past 12 months:
June 30, 2008
Budget approved assuming per pupil funding would increase $2 from $5,777 to $5,779 for 2008/09. The total projected revenues were approximately $55,000,000. The 2009/10 per pupil funding provided by the State was set to increase to $6,076 or approximately $58,300,000.
February 17, 2009
The Legislature and the Governor agreed to 17 month budget that includes 2009/10. Education funding was reduced for 2008/09 and 2009/10. As a result, AUSD 2008/09 revenues were changed from $5,779 to $5,627 eight months into the fiscal year. The projected 2008/09 loss of revenue was $1,400,000.
Late May, 2009
After the defeat of the May 19 ballot propositions, the Governor submitted a revised 2009/10 budget. Ten months into the fiscal year, AUSD 2008/09 revenues are once again revised downward. The new per pupil funding for 2008/09 is now set at $5,408 or a reduction of $3,500,000. The news is even worse for 2009/10 with per pupil funding being projected at $5,223. The $5,223 per pupil funding is $93 above the 2005/06 funding level of $5,130. The $5,223 per pupil funding would provide approximately $50,000,000. The current projections do not show per pupil funding getting back to $5,777 (2007/08 actual levels) by 2011/2012.
July 1, 2009
With the failure of the Legislature and the Governor to agree on a revised 2009/10 by June 30th, AUSD 2008/09 revenues should actually go up. Because of Proposition 98, AUSD may actually receive per pupil funding closer to $5,627 then $5,408. Of course that means that State have just spent over $2 billion it does not have so the 2009/10 funding levels are completely up in the air.
Bottom Line:
AUSD started 2008/09 with an expectation of receiving $55,000,000 this year in per pupil funding. Twelve months later, it certainly appears the ONGOING per pupil funding will be closer to $50 million rather then the $58 million that was projected by the State just twelve months ago. As a result, AUSD’s needs to find $5,000,000 of ONGOING expenditures reductions to avoid deficit spending compared to 2007/08 funding levels.
The next edition will examine AUSD expenditures.
If you enjoyed this post, please consider to leave a comment or subscribe to the feed and get future articles delivered to your feed reader.
Thank you for sharing this information. For people who say districts should simply “live with in their means,” this helps to make it clear that 10 month into the year the state changes the means. What should the district do to “live within its means?” Close schools mid-year? Insanity.