CHESTERTON | Duneland School Corporation Superintendent Dirk Baer called Porter County's inability to collect and distribute tax revenues in a timely manner a "debacle" on Tuesday.
It is time for the public to mobilize and demand a fix to the problem keeping the district from budgeting and operating efficiently, Baer told the School Board after a preliminary presentation of the 2010 budget. COMMENT - Who is to blame? What can be done except to wait until 2010 elections of county leaders?
How can a school district possibly create a budget, Baer asked in effect, when the state has not yet certified the previous year's budget and the county has not paid out sizeable amounts of money due the year before?
The financial uncertainty makes it impossible to fund programs that move the district ahead, Baer said. And taking out loans until county payments come in has cost the district in interest payments, he added.
Duneland will pay about $98,000 in interest this year on tax anticipation warrants. COMMENT - What about the 2008 Murphy Plan or Bucko Plan that would have loaned money to schools, towns and cities ... Will the county council listen?
"This is ridiculous. We can no longer operate this way," Baer said. "This needs to be corrected at the county level."
Business Manager Bonnie Gaston said the county has distributed to Duneland only 87 percent of its tax revenues due for 2008, leaving the district at least $2 million in the hole.
Assistant Superintendent for Finance David Pruis said the district tried to budget very conservatively because of the unknowns and late county payments. The $11.4 million budgeted for capital projects is down from last year and the proposed $40.4 million general fund is up only very slightly, he said.
"We have no clue whatsoever on what kind of revenue we're going to have," Pruis said.
Baer said in addition to the county failings, state funding -- now the source for districts' general funds -- could be variable since it is based on sales tax collected during the economic recession.
