Challenges in Balancing GCPS Budget
The state's largest school system must deal with situations that other organizations do not.
Pdfs
It's not just the declining property tax digest in Gwinnett County that causes budget headaches for Gwinnett County Public Schools (GCPS). The system has unique funding challenges, including its own positive reputation.
For instance:
- PROPERTY TAXES: The system derives 99 percent of its funding from property taxes. Yet, the Gwinnett County government, which collects those taxes, derives less than 40 percent of its revenue from property taxes, with other revenue coming from fees. "We have no other option (than property taxes)," Rick Cost, the GCPS chief financial officer, said this week.
- WEALTH PER STUDENT: GCPS has the same tax millage rate as nearby Fulton County, yet has 70,000 more students than Fulton. This is somewhat because of the county's size, and also because GCPS has a strong reputation. So GCPS ranks 87th of 180 districts statewide in wealth per student.
- STATE FUNDING: The wealth per student situation means GCPS gets $6.8 million more in equalization grant funding from the state in 2013 than in 2012. Still, this is $11 million below the amount actually earned under the Quality Basic Education formula.
- SCHOOL LUNCH PRICES: The schools plan an increase of $2.4 million in the Enterprise (School Nutrition) Fund, to $88.3 million. This is somewhat due to anticipated higher food costs from new federal mandates, and increased employee benefit costs. However, there will be no meal price increases in FY 2013. About 54 percent of all students are eligible for free or reduced-price meals.
- RIDING BUSES TO SCHOOL: The GCPS has a projected transportation budget of $78.9 million, with just $5.3 million funded by the state. About 75 percent of students ride buses to schools, because Gwinnett County's size generally means fewer students can walk or ride bicycles.
For 2013, GCPS officials had to overcome an $89 million revenue shortfall to balance the budget, and for 2012, it was over $100 million. The schools use a "rolling budget" process to allow for seamless, year-to-year planning. However, Cost, the CFO, said he is not comfortable with estimating a revenue-shortfall figure for FY 2014.
However, a continued decline in property tax revenue from the county is still expected, and Cost said that it still might be 2-3 years before the situation bottoms out. In the past four years, GCPS has lost almost $133 million in property-tax revenue.
For 2013, the schools' millage rate will remain unchanged at 19.75, which is just below the state maximum.
The GCPS plans public hearings on the budget May 10 and May 17, with the board scheduled to vote on the budget at the May 17 meeting.
DavidE
12:42 pm on Wednesday, April 4, 2012
99% of the funding does not come from property taxes. Out of the $2 billion budget, roughly $700 million comes from the federal government. In order to increase the federal funding, the school system pushes for people to be on free or reduced meals. The higher the percentage, the more they get from the federal government. The amount they receive doesn't cover the expense.
Annette Rogers
9:31 pm on Wednesday, April 4, 2012
David, could you please clarify? According you your figure over 1/3 of the GCPS budget comes from the federal (via state? or is there additional state funding?). Are you saying that GCPS tries to create more Title I schools and/or they get additional funding per student that has free/reduced meals regardless of the overall socio-economics of the school? And, in your statement "The amount they receive doen't cover the expense", who is they?
Annette Rogers
9:59 pm on Wednesday, April 4, 2012
I am in no way a financial expert, but it has not appeared, even as recently as during the ESPLOST vote, that GCPS was operating in a depressed economic environment. I can't remember all the proposals, but I do remember they included air conditioning all gyms and activity buildings (even open and uninsulated detached buildings with huge fans), taking out a loan to start spending before the money was collected (incurring interest), and paying outside sources to develop/implement technology, and build new buildings even when there are more than enough empty seats available within GCPS. Those things are not things my family would do if we had a budget shortfall. If we had money that had to be spent on buildings we'd insulate and make our existing facilities as efficient as possible. We, like GCPS, have great in-house IT people and we'd DIY technology as much as possible. We wouldn't air condition our garage or patio and incur the increased utility expenses. We would do everything in our power to protect our family, our human resources, that make our house our home. My husband of 25 years wouldn't replace me with a "cheaper" alternative - I hope. And finally, we wouldn't build a new house when we do not see more growth to our family than our current facilities will support.
I think asking for input is a good first step!
DavidE
6:59 am on Thursday, April 5, 2012
I was told by several individuals in lunchroom management (won't mention the school), that they want to get as many as possible on free and reduced lunch. It helps them get additional or special funding from the federal government.
I can't find the full budget info that shows the funding sources, it was available in previous years..
I agree on your second post.
Courtney
8:03 pm on Thursday, April 5, 2012
Schools make money for having kids sign up for Free/Reduced lunches.
DavidE
8:16 pm on Thursday, April 5, 2012
If they do make money, then that would explain why they push for everyone to signup that can qualify. After all the admin costs to submit everything, I doubt they make money.