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.
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I await the articles from Rant Kinney and Rony about how evil the pubilc school systemis leavign kids inthe dust leik they did Catholic Schoosl whihc clsoed due to inability to fund........ But thank God we were able to flip the OT for the police force the last 3 days for Occupy and a concert so they could drag Daryll Hal from his grave and also score Queen L who has not produced an album since 1995 I believe...... But Nutter was able to act tough again from behind a mic so it is all worth it - America's mayor. Keep voting D philly - it is workign soooooooooooo well. so what do we do once we tax the rich to death to nothing and we still have a deficit? Because that is what reality is even if they taxed the rich poor......
also - whatever happen to that New York firm that they were going after the firefighters died? Did the D machine realize that their pockets were lined by these guys and two fire fighters lives are easy to forget about 2 months later? Is that the tax enforcement we are going to get?— reddog44- Total Propaganda.
If the Public Schools were fully funded, the City Has Enough money in this year's budget.
This "Deficit" is how much it would cost to create the "Charter Schools" that are what should be, at this point, the School District's
Wish List...and Lisa Nutter's, and Kenny Gamble's, and several Senator's...and any others trying to rip Philadelphia off...
Charter Schools Do Not do a better job educating, you have published the statistics in this very paper, do your homework, and stop printing propaganda.— murphthesurf - yet the sheep in this city will still flock to the polls in November for the same party that has controlled the city for 60 years— 420Phillie
- even worse...70 years
— barry m goldwater - Budget problems signify people's problems with making tough decisions. Look at a family that is living off of minimum wage... they make it work by making sacrifices and tough decisions. When you hear about a company or governments budget problem it is is because someone/s decision to sacrifice something like pay raises, stipend increases, benefits etc. never gets made. The people that balance a budget should never be the ones the budget decisions affect. This will make those decisions and sacrifices that have to be done easier to make...and maybe those sacrifices will help that family making minimum wage in the future by opening up new spending programs for them.— patrickj
- Why not close all the Philly schools? Only about half of the high school students graduate. This is not a money problem; this is a family/parenting problem. The Amish and Mennonite communities spend only a fraction of the money Philadelphia spends and their students are much better educated.— oneway
- Why not close all the Philly schools? Only about half of the high school students graduate. This is not a money problem; this is a family/parenting problem. The Amish and Mennonite communities spend only a fraction of the money Philadelphia spends and their students are much better educated. MONEY IS NOT THE PROBLEM!!!!!!!!!!!— oneway
- Close all PSD schools, and give each eligieble child in Philadelphia a voucher {like stock holders} valued for the money that would have gone to PSD. This forced competition would benefit most students, but alas, the dregs and trouble makers would still be loss in a system...buy them Boot Camps instead of Schools. Everyone would win!!
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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.
You can also follow Kristen on Twitter here.
