Friday, Mar. 5
March 5, 2010
Jindal gives So. Lafourche Levee District nearly $20M
March 9, 2010
Unemployment numbers throughout the region may still be looking good, but local schools might be starting to feel the effects of a down economy.
Mid-year budget cuts were discussed last week at Terrebonne Parish’s routine school board meeting, along with increases in retirement costs and major gaps in sales tax collections, which have been praised for contributing large amounts of money to the local school system.
“We need to read into this issue as soon as possible,” said Rickie Pitre, a representative from the 4th District, about the budget cuts. “I don’t think we’re going to have too much time. We’re going to need action.”
However, public school district Superintendent Philip Martin seemed confident things would play out in a positive light.
“We’ll just have to buy less things for those budget reductions,” he said at the meeting.
Caldwell Middle School in Schriever and Grand Caillou Elementary in Dulac will take a small blow, according to documents presented by the board. Both schools will see a reduced allocation of about $12,000.
To ease the financial sting, less or cheaper supplies will probably have to be purchased for those schools throughout the year, said Martin.
Employer contribution rates for retirement benefits will also be going up markedly, especially for those in non-teaching positions.
“The increase in the contribution rate is due to the losses suffered on the system investments. This system like all other pension funds in this state and country had losses this year which has had a huge effect on the system’s funding requirements,” explained Debra Dudley, assistant director of Louisiana School Employees Retirement System (LSERS), in an e-mail correspondence to Martin.
For teachers, rates will be jumping to 20 percent from 15.5 percent, while other employees like bus drivers, custodians and bus aides will see an increase of about 7 percent.
The proposal for increases was approved by the Public Retirement System Actuarial Committee (PRSAC), which approves rate increases for all Louisiana retirement systems. However, PRSACs recommendation must also be approved by the legislature.
The increase is nearly $5 million above what the school board was previously paying.
Unfortunately, the district’s struggles don’t end there.
Sales tax collections, which is the amount of money fueled into the school system following the sale of common goods in Terrebonne Parish, is also on the decline.
A report issued by the board shows the amount received in November 2009 is 29 percent less than funds wrangled in November 2008.
All sales tax budgets have been adjusted downward by $5 million, according to Harris Henry, Terrebonne Parish Schools’ executive director of finance and auxiliary services.
If the losing trend continues, the district could be looking at falling short of its current budget by about $2 million, said Henry.
Philip Martin – Announced plans to tighten spending for school supplies
