Phila. SD deficit has grown to as much as $282m
Initially projected at $218 million, the deficit is now anywhere between $255 and $282 million.
Phila. SD deficit has grown to as much as $282m
Kristen Graham
Philadelphia School District officials gave an update Friday morning on the state of their finances, and it was more bad news.
Initially projected at $218 million, the deficit is now anywhere between $255 and $282 million.
City Council's decision to give the distict $54 million less than the $94 million it asked for is part of the reason for the new number. But there are other factors - $9 million more from city tax collections and a net $8 million change in state funds. And the district is also bracing for a revenue loss of up to $27 million by virtue of tax appeal losses.
Officials say they want to make up the money by collecting delinquent taxes, and say they are taking steps with the city to make that happen. Should that effort not yield enough new money, though, they say they will have to consider things like non-school cuts, reductions to salary and benefits (both unionized and non-unionized employees) and finally, school cuts - the last resort, they said.
The district was already planning on deficit financing its projected $218 million gap. School Reform Commissioner Feather Houstoun said that while the district has the authority to finance up to $300 million, it would not be wise to do so.
"If you use borrowing for this, it’s just another one-time revenue that you have to fill next year." Houstoun said. "The more we can limit the size of the deficit this year and the use of deficit financing for that, the better the sitation will be going forward into next year."
Chief Recovery Officer Thomas Knudsen said the shifting financial picture complicated the negotiations with 32BJ Local 1201, the blue-collar union representing bus aides, cleaners, mechanics and others. Hundreds of its members have received layoff notices that would take effect July 15 if no action is taken; the entire workforce would be laid off by the end of the year with no intervention.
Knudsen said no decisions had been made yet on whether the layoffs will take effect. Union officials have said they put millions in concessions on the table to save jobs but have not heard back from the district.
"Right now, we're still talking to the unions," Knudsen said.
Finally, at least some language for collecting delinquent taxes. It's about time somebody realized the city is sitting on a freakin gold mine in uncollected taxes. Whether or not they actually do is another matter, and I'm sure the foot dragging will go on forever. Still, the city is up to about 300 sheriff sales a month now. Way short of the mayor's goal but at least going in the right direction.— Gilliam- just like the PSD restructure in bankruptcy court
— barry m goldwater - "just let" — barry m goldwater
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- This is what is wrong with years and years of Affirmative Action. Instead of an equalizer, it is viewed as an entitlement in the AA community. So everything starts with that advantage and they don't even notice and they still blame people that look like Romney for all of their lazy habits. Affirmative Action is like a drug. A needle in your arm that you can't shake off. Chaka Fattah and his wife Rene Chanault, for all of their affluence insist that they and their children still require the Affirmative Action Advantage. That is a fact. Case closed.
— DarnelX - GP Tank, if they were a real business they would have gone into bankruptcy hundreds of times over. The problem with these folks is that they have no clue. I've concluded that the Superintendent and CFO and including whatever the heck kind of hybrid Kneudsen is - they are just figureheads. They do not have control over the entire operation, especially the thick layer of high level bureaucratic incompetence there. It is simply stunning. I have witnessed it first hand working at 440 for a few years. They keep many things secret from the Superintendent. Take Ackerman, for instance. There is so much to digest, they just spoon fed her information. She wasn't smart enough to know that she didn't know that. She was blamed for things that she really never knew about. We all laughed at her being too dumb to not even know what was going on right under her nose. We had a $3.2 Billion annual budget in her years. One person can not possibly know it all, and especially her. She had no idea on how the budget ran, and the budget book was kept deliberately cloudy so things could be done. Look where that got us. Vendors got rich and the school district was thrown into virtual bankruptcy.
Investigators were duped.
Mr. Butkovitz, Hint- Look more closely at the bond swaps and follow the money on the contracts.
.— DarnelX - have fun prop owners— raynesrock
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- SDP is one big black hole.
— Go-Eagles - This shortfall isn't about the SDP mis-handling its money. This about the city not collecting tax money that is due to the city/SDP. — F. Harry Stowe
During the school year, you’ll frequently find her hosting live chats about the district on Philly.com. Please do pass along the scoop about what’s going on at your Philadelphia public school; Kristen welcomes tips, story ideas and witty banter at kgraham@phillynews.com or 215-854-5146.
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