Plum School District tackling projected $4.3M deficit in 2018-19 budget

Aug. 29--Staffing may be cut and taxes raised by 0.8 mills to balance next year's Plum School District budget.

Business Manager John Zahorchak made the announcement at a recent budget workshop. School board members and administrators started their 2018-19 financial planning to tackle a projected $4.3 million deficit. Officials in previous years did not start budget talks until October.

"It's very difficult to dig out of this hole," Zahorchak said. "You can't make $4 million in cuts. You can't make $4 million in revenue. If we're going to balance our budget, you're going to disrupt things."

He said 29 staffers, including teachers, administrators, clerical and maintenance workers, would need to go to help balance the books.

The district has 550 employees, including 266 teachers. The cuts would save the district about $2 million, he said.

The proposed staffing cuts and tax increase are based on a spending plan that doesn't include about $2.6 million left from $5.6 million the district borrowed to balance the budget last year.

Board member Steve Schlauch said it was "not in the district's best interest" to borrow money again. Board members and administrators stressed these were very preliminary discussions, and a large cut in staffing likely will not occur.

"Hopefully, we can find some ground in the middle," board President Kevin Dowdell said.

The board adopted this year's $66 million budget in June with a property tax hike of 0.866-mill and no cuts to programs.

The proposed property tax increase for next year would bring in an additional $1.3 million in revenue. If the proposed $63 million budget is approved as is, it would be the third straight year for property tax hikes.

Michael DiVittorio is a Tribune-Review staff writer.

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