WJCC Admin Estimates $7.5M Budget Shortfall

WJCC Admin Estimates $7.5M Budget Shortfall

By Amber Lester Kennedy Wednesday, January 04, 2012

The Williamsburg-James City County School Division faces an “unprecedented” budget shortfall of $7.5 million for the upcoming fiscal year, according to Assistant Superintendent for Finance & Operations Scott Burckbuchler.

Burckbuchler revealed the number, higher than previously estimated, at the School Board’s meeting on Tuesday. The number represents decreased local revenue, loss of federal stimulus dollars, increased contributions to the retirement system for teachers, higher health care costs and other anticipated cost increases, he said.

The division’s biggest increased cost will be an additional $4.3 million contribution to the Virginia Retirement System for teachers. The current rate of contribution is 11.66 percent for teachers; VRS contributions cost WJCC $7.6 million in the current fiscal year.

In his biennium budget released Dec. 19, Gov. Bob McDonnell proposed the largest-ever contribution by employers to VRS in an effort to reduce the system’s unfunded liability. To balance the state budget in 2010, the General Assembly approved a plan to defer payments to VRS, with the intention of paying the borrowed sum back over 10 years.

In the past three years, federal stimulus dollars have come available shortly before the adoption of each budget, providing what Superintendent Steven Constantino called “a lily pad that took the pain out.” With no expectation of additional federal monies, he said it was like the division was being “shoved off a cliff.”

Since fiscal year 2010, WJCC has seen reductions of $2.8 million, which led to numerous budget cuts, including 34.5 administration and support positions. Health care costs are expected to rise $700,000 and Burckbuchler also estimates another $1 million in miscellaneous increased costs. He said about $1 million could be reallocated, which could leave a budget shortfall of $6.5 million. In the face of the projected financial constraints, Burckbuchler said programmatic and staff changes are inevitable.

Constantino said the administration has already started to prepare a list of potential budget cuts that will be presented to the board at its budget retreat, scheduled for 9 a.m. Jan. 14 in the cafeteria at the Central Office at James Blair. “Some of it is not pretty,” he said. “Something is going to have to give.”

A public hearing on the budget will be held at 6:30 p.m. Jan. 17 in the board room of Building F at the James City County Complex. A second public hearing will be held on March 6.

Comments

-1 #10 Shortfall and Taxes 2012-01-06 10:51

One way to increase the income from taxes is affordable homes for those who live here with children in our schools....you get no tax money from those parents living in apartments who can not afford to buy a home here, if they could afford to buy that would be added tax money from real estate taxes to assist with the education budget. Don't increase my taxes instead provide more affordable homes.

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+1 #9 Sheesh... 2012-01-05 16:58

What's the total budget right now, $100 milllion or so? $7.5 million represents a huge shortfall. And you thought class sizes were big now...

I think we're going to have to face the music and raise taxes at least a few percent. We want our division to be premier right?

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0 #8 Time for Big Cuts 2012-01-04 20:06

The time has come to eliminate all WJCC athletics, arts, and transportation. Or make them fully fee-for-service items paid for entirely by the families who want them. Don't raise everybody's taxes to pay for these perks for a few people's kids.

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+11 #7 Lottery Money? 2012-01-04 19:08

Every time I see a shortfall in education across Virginia....ove rcrowded schools, teachers loosing jobs, programs closing, parents paying more money for school related activities...I always have to wonder about the Virginia Lottery. With the billions of dollars that the Virginia Lottery has taken in since it's inception, where has all the money gone? Can the general public get an itemized list of how the lottery money has been dispersed to education in Virginia? Does anyone know?

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0 #6 Thrifty 2012-01-04 18:26

Wjcc has the option to not renew employees contracts at the end of the School year. Because Virginia is an at will state, they don't have to give you a reason for nonrenewal. Wjcc only needs to give an individual 2 weeks notice. Let's leave emotions out of this and stick to figures. ;-)

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+4 #5 Barrey Camp 2012-01-04 16:41

The sad thing is they have continued to spend while all the time real estate values have been dropping thru the floor. I suspect their shortfall will be considerably more when new and accurate real estate assessments are established.

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+11 #4 How many? 2012-01-04 11:22

How many Phds.do we have walking around the central office pulling in 6 figures?

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+18 #3 BenTG 2012-01-04 09:10

Please stop giving away tax money to corporations to boost their bottom line and put it toward teaching our children.

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-9 #2 how about 2012-01-04 08:38

How about they pay a consultant to figure out why there is a budget short fall?

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+10 #1 JCC resident 2012-01-04 07:28

Please clean out the Ivory Tours and leave the teachers and schools alone.

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