| State cuts: Waseca schools will need to borrow more |
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Posted: Tuesday, June 16, 2009 9:33 pm
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By RUTH ANN HAGER
Staff Writer
WASECA — John Rokke and Elizabeth Beery watched television together Tuesday afternoon as Gov. Tim Pawlenty announced his plans to trim $2.7 billion from the 2010-2011 state budget through executive action.
Rokke, superintendent of the Waseca School District, and Beery, director of business services, were anxious to hear what Pawlenty’s unallotment would mean for the district.
The governor said the proposed budget reductions had been determined in a targeted fashion, rather than across the board cuts, protecting priorities such as K-12 education.
Pawlenty announced a temporary reduction and deferral of state payments to schools from a 90/10 split to a 73/27 split between what schools receive in the current year and what is deferred to the next year.
“It was a surprise to us because we had been told to expect no worse than 80/20,” Rokke said.
That indication came from the Minnesota Department of Education two weeks ago, he said, but since then, [Pawlenty] made reductions in cuts to other funding, such as hospitals, Rokke said.
“The money had to come from somewhere; it’s a balancing act,” he said.
While the governor did not specify if the new split is for one or two years, Rokke said they think it refers to both years of the budget.
“Are we disappointed? We were planning on the 80/20; we’ll have to readjust and borrow more than we expected but we have to live with it.”
Rokke said the governor could have made overall cuts to K-12 education funding and that didn’t happen.
“I’m not going to complain,” he said, adding that funding for hospitals and cities is also important.
“The decision is made and now we have to adjust,” Beery said. “We’ll have to borrow more money than expected which will affect our cash flow.”
She had earlier estimated that an 80/20 split would result in $50,000 to $100,000 in interest payments. That figure will now increase.
Ruth Ann Hager is at 507- 837-5446 or rhager@wasecacountynews.com.
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