THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, December 13, 1995 TAG: 9512130373
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ALETA PAYNE, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Medium: 68 lines
The school district says it again may have to ask the City Council for more money to complete the year if state and federal revenues do not increase.
City officials, frustrated with the district and bracing for another school spending crisis, planned to seek a written financial request to avoid any surprises.
However, interim Superintendent James L. Pughsley said Tuesday that it is too early to know for sure if additional funds will be needed. The district already has trimmed more than $5 million to offset a projected deficit, and January revenue figures should paint a more accurate picture of the school district's finances.
School administrators are trying to avoid a repeat of the unprecedented $12.1 million budget shortfall at the end of the 1994-95 fiscal year. And city officials want to know early what they will be asked to contribute to curtail a projected deficit.
``We're doing everything we possibly can to make the cuts necessary so we'll be fine,'' said board chairwoman June T. Kernutt, who notified Mayor Meyera E. Oberndorf in a letter late last month that there were potential problems with both sales tax and federal revenue.
The sales tax picture could improve, however, if holiday spending is higher than expected.
``A lot depends on what happens in the next few weeks . . . through the Christmas holidays,'' Pughsley said.
City officials, meanwhile, say they don't expect to have as much cash at the end of this fiscal year to bail out the schools. Oberndorf said she is worried the district's financial needs will keep increasing.
``They may ask for a significant cash infusion in January,'' Oberndorf said. She wants the information in writing ``so we don't misunderstand one another.''
School officials announced in the fall a projected deficit of $6.6 million for this fiscal year. Stringent spending measures are estimated to make up at least $5.5 million of that money, but, if revenues slump, projections indicate the district would have to cover up to $2 million more.
Several school board members have said in recent meetings that they might have to go back to the council for more money if it became impossible to shave any more from the schools' $358 million operating budget - most of which is committed to salaries and fringe benefits.
Kernutt said school leaders are working hard to keep the lines of communication open with the city and that her letter to Oberndorf was intended to keep the city updated.
``I view it as keeping everyone apprised of the situation as it develops,'' Kernutt said.
City officials had been critical of the amount and accuracy of information they received from the school administration in the months leading up to the discovery of the 1994-95 deficit.
Former Superintendent Sidney L. Faucette, who left Virginia Beach to head a Georgia school system last summer, has said the city had information about revenue projections by which to gauge the status of the district's budget.
City officials also criticized the school district for failing to make deeper cuts. As part of their terms for covering the deficit, city leaders have demanded that the district consolidate certain financial services with the city. The city had hoped to merge the print shops as well, but school officials never responded to their request, city administrators said Tuesday.
KEYWORDS: VIRGINIA BEACH SCHOOLS TAXES by CNB