Officials work to offset large deficit in Columbia Public Schools

Officials are working to offset a large deficit in Columbia Public Schools and that could mean more money out of taxpayers’ pockets.

The school board met Thursday morning to talk about growth in the district and the impact it is having on the budget. Officials said they are getting less money from the state than they planned.

Linda Quinley, the CPS Chief Financial and Chief Operating Officer, said the district is going to receive about $1.2 million less from the state than they had planned for. She said the district will be deficit spending about $2 million this year.

“Right now, it looks like we’ll spend more each year than we’re bringing in in revenues because our expenditures are growing at a much faster rate than our revenues are,” Quinley said.

One reason the district overestimated state funding is because the state has changed the formula for funding the within last year. Also, other funding sources like riverboats and other gambling operations are down, Quinley said.

The district spends about $10,500 on each student a year, she said. But the state says it should be able to operate at only $6,000 per student. And right now, the state is only giving the district about half of that because it accounts for money the schools receive from the community.

“We’re growing at a pace of over 100 kids a year,” Quinley said. “And at 10,500 dollars, that’s a million dollars just for growth. Then as we are addressing our growth by opening buildings, there’s that operating cost too just behind utilities and the kinds of things that it takes to have another facility open. So growth is a real challenge for us.”

You may remember, CPS is currently building another elementary school in the southwest part of the city to account for the growing number of students. Quinley said at the district’s current growth rate, the spending deficit will grow to $3 million the next school year, $5 million in the 2016-2017 school year and $7 million the following year.

Thursday, board members said a tax levy may be the solution for offsetting the deficit. The board said they plan to talk to the community to get feedback first before taking it to a vote.