State revenues are projected to be halved due to the pandemic, leaving possible cuts to Manhattan-Ogden USD 383 for 2021. Preliminary numbers related to the 2021 budget planning process were presented Wednesday to the USD 383 school board. Business Services Director Lew Faust says overall, their general fund and local option funds are down around $300,000. However, since they are not over the budget authority, this is good. Recent spring state revenue estimates from the Consensus Revenue Estimating Group show an estimated $827 million decrease for this year, with an additional $445 million next year for a total of $1.3 billion. Faust says the ending balance for next year is over 600 million in the hole, which the state cannot be in. A fix may include an allotment from the governor, which is a cut across the state. “An allotment of 1% for each student in the funding formula would equal $46. We have about 10,200 FTE, which would amount to over $469,000. If the entire 9.8% was covered through allotments, it would equal almost $4.6 million dollars for the district,” says Faust.
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