LACEY – The Board of Education voted to take money out of the district’s surplus to absorb the loss of state aid.
This move is a reaction to the state funding plan that reallocated approximately $46 million in aid to districts that were determined to need it more, due to issues like increased enrollment. This left a lot of suburban districts with a deficit in their budgets – budgets that were already approved. Lacey was one of the districts that received less aid.
For Lacey, they had built their budget under the expectation that they would receive $21,658,013 in aid. This was a flat rate that they had received in recent years. However, their aid came in at $21,586,070. This left a $71,943 hole to fill.
Rather than cutting programs or staff, the administration and Board of Education decided at their most recent meeting to take the money out of surplus. Every district has some surplus that rolls over from previous years to use for emergencies. Lacey had $1,046,442 at the end of the 2016-2017 school year.
This was the best choice to make under the circumstances, business administrator Patrick DeGeorge said.
“Frankly, it’s a very thin budget,” he said.
District officials further explained that because the money is coming out of surplus, there would be no change in taxes other than what was decided in the spring.
The district’s total budget for the 2017-2018 school year will be $73,566,211.
The amount to be raised in taxation will still be $45,642,489. The tax rate will be 1.279 per $100 of assessed valuation.
On an average home, based on the township average of $275,600, the taxes will be $3,524.11.
