We've been reviewing the numbers from the state budget and it appears that in general the cuts to our district will fall within that $7 to $8 million range we've been talking about. There are still some questions that our business services staff are trying to get answered. Some of the questions are about how we will or won't be able to use federal stimulus money.
Another question mark concerns a bill that did not pass the legislature at the last minute and is on the list for consideration if a special session is called. If you've been reading or watching the news, it's House Bill 1776, concerning school levies.
Our local levy is capped by the state using a formula that is a percentage of revenues from state and federal revenues. Here's the problem: if our state revenues are cut, as they will be next year, then the cap means that we cannot by law raise as much money through our local levy. So not only would we have the state cuts but we would also collect less local levy money as well.
This bill, H.B. 1776, would allow districts to collect as much local levy money as if the state cuts were not happening.
If there is no special session or if they hold a special session and this bill does not pass, there would be no impact on next year's budget. The levy lid is based on past revenue, so it would not be until 2011 that the state budget cuts would affect the amount we can collect.
It would mean that the second year of this budget biennium would be even worse for Lake Washington and many other school districts. The amount we could collect in local levy dollars for 2010-11 would be even lower.
That's why the possibility of a special session of the legislature is something to pay attention to in the news.