ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, January 26, 1996 TAG: 9601260102
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JOEL TURNER STAFF WRITER
Roanoke County schools expect to receive an additional $1.6 million in state funds in the next year - more than double this year's increase in state aid for the county.
And now the bad news:
The schools will have to use most of the extra money just to make up for the loss of one-time funds that were used to balance this year's budget.
"It looks like we're going to get a little more than enough from the state to get us out of the hole," School Board Chairman Jerry Canada said.
To make up for a deficit in this year's school budget, the board used $600,000 in health insurance reserve funds, $450,000 in surplus funds from last year, and a $350,000 one-time appropriation from the county.
None of this money will be available when school officials put together next year's budget.
This means schools will have to look to the Board of Supervisors to provide money for teacher pay raises and other budget increases in the next year.
Jerry Hardy, director of budget and data management for schools, said Thursday night that he has not received an estimate from county officials on the projected increase in local funds in the next year.
Each 1 percent increase in salaries for teachers and other school employees will cost $582,000, Hardy told the School Board.
Gov. George Allen's proposed budget does not include any state funds to help pay for raises for teachers or other school employees in the next year. Allen has included money for the state's share of 3 percent teacher pay raises in the second year of the biennium, but nothing in the first year.
"This means it's left up to the localities to provide raises for school employees in the first year. That's the sad part," Canada said.
Superintendent Deanna Gordon said federal funds for schools are expected to decrease next year, but they are not a major revenue source for the county.
Canada said the board will have to seek the supervisors' help in dealing with the budget crunch so it won't have to rely on one-time revenues to balance the budget again next year.
"I hope the [supervisors] will help get us out of this hole so we won't be in the same situation again next year," Canada said.
Hardy said he wishes Allen had provided money to pay the state's share of a teacher pay raise next year, but he added he's not complaining about the governor's budget or the increase in state aid.
Still, the county could have received another $800,000 if its local contribution had remained the same, he said.
Like most localities in Virginia, Roanoke County's "local composite index" has been increased for the next biennium, meaning it must pay a higher percentage of school costs.
In distributing education money, the state uses the index, which takes into account each locality's ability to pay. The index is based on a weighted measure of each jurisdiction's true value of real estate, personal income, taxable retail sales, school enrollment and population.
The index is the percentage of school costs that a locality must pay. It is calculated for each locality every two years.
In Western Virginia, most localities pay between 30 percent and 45 percent of school costs. Roanoke County's index has increased from 39.7 percent to 41.7 percent.
Hardy said this means the county will have to pay 2 cents more on every $1 of school costs.
The slump in Northern Virginia real estate prices in the early 1990s caused the composite indexes for most other localities to increase because their real estate values continued to rise.
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