BUDGET UPDATE: Cautious state budget and projected FCUSD deficit
Last month Gov. Jerry Brown - cautious about declining state revenues and long-term economic uncertainty - unveiled his proposed 2017-18 spending plan for education. The projections are not rosy: Brown proposed lowering funding for schools by $500 million next year and is not offering much more than a minimum cost-of-living increase required by law.
What’s also not included in the governor’s budget: Any new funding to cover rising employer retirement costs.
So what does all of this mean for Folsom Cordova’s budget moving forward?
The District is anticipating a $3.8 million deficit in the next fiscal year beginning July 1, and a $1.3 million deficit the following year, in 2018-19. Rising retirement costs are a driving factor, as are scheduled increases in employee pay. Because the governor is proposing lowering projected payments to schools in the short-term, school districts face a funding gap in at least the next two years.
The most recent budget projections were presented the Folsom Cordova Education Association on Feb. 7. Click here to see the District’s presentation.
Folsom Cordova will
work collaboratively with its employee organizations, including the Folsom
Cordova Education Association and the California School Employees Association,
to identify sustainable solutions. The governor will propose a revised state
budget in May, and the school District will take a final budget proposal to the
Board of Education before June 30.