THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, September 17, 1995 TAG: 9509150199
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 08 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: On the Street
SOURCE: Bill Reed
LENGTH: Medium: 65 lines
Hold on to your hats and your wallets folks, the school budget deficit follies are just getting under way.
On Tuesday, the City Council laid out a tough agenda, which the School Board must meet - or say it will - before it shells out the dough to cover the $7.4 million shortfall in the 1994-95 school budget.
First of all, members want an explanation of how school officials managed to spend $7.4 million more than they had in the till.
As of now, they have yet to hear a cogent explanation of how the red ink appeared in the school ledger, other than some mumbo jumbo about overestimating the amount of state and federal aid set aside for the local system or how they were short-changed by the council and city staff.
In adopting a resolution Tuesday, the council went on record as saying that the school bookkeeping and financial reporting methods stink and that the city's entire financial health - not to mention the education of its children - is in jeopardy.
Council members say they want to know things like why top school administrators raided the textbook fund, the food services fund, the risk-management and athletic funds and where that money went.
They also want to know why School Board members were not kept apprised of shaky budget conditions before a final accounting several weeks ago. And, they want to know if the budget gaffs that have come to light will effect the School Board's ability to pay its teachers and support employees next year, and if future school construction needs will be impacted.
Most of all, they want to know if they'll have to hike the real estate taxes of every cotton-pickin' citizen in Virginia Beach by 4 cents or more to keep the schools solvent.
In Virginia, only local governing bodies - city and town councils or boards of supervisors - can set local taxes. The General Assembly can do this as well, but not school boards. That means councils and boards of supervisors are directly accountable for how money is raised and how it is spent in their separate jurisdictions.
While city finance gurus say there is ample surplus - $14 million - to cover the shortage, somewhere down the line Joe and Jane taxpayer may be looking at digging into their retirement account or raiding Junior's college fund just to keep the school system out of hock.
If that happens, folks on council and School Board should seriously consider other avenues of civic involvement - maybe even pack up tooth brushes and a change of underwear to make ready for a visit to the slammer.
By Nov. 1, council members should have some idea of the scope of the problem when an auditor, hired to go over the school system's books, returns with a report.
On Tuesday, the School Board meets to consider the council resolution, which outlines ways to pay off the deficit, consolidate city and school payroll and accounting services, and to revamp the school system's yearly budget-making and reporting processes.
On Nov. 7, council members get to mull over the board's response to their resolution and discuss the auditor's report.
They will have to make a move, one way or another, to cover the budget shortage and make sure it never happens again.
KEYWORDS: VIRGINIA BEACH SCHOOLS BUDGET DEFICIT by CNB