Parkland's Dwindling Fund Balance Prompts Education Concerns

There were no big surprises as Parkland School Board directors were updated on the 2013-2014 budget during Tuesday night's workshop meeting until a graph depicting the district's fund balance over the next few years raised some red flags.

Director Robert Cohen noted the downward trend of the district's fund balance in contrast to costs for future commitments.

Business Administration Director John Vignone acknowledged Cohen's concerns and said the fund would be near zero by 2017-2018 if nothing changes.

He added, "We will have to find a less expensive way to deliver educational programs and continue to reduce expenditures - we’re working on it. I don't see how we can deliver education in its present mode and meet our future financial commitments."

But Superintendent Richard Sniscak said the graph, which shows a projected fund balance down from $18.8 million to $14.8 million in 2013-2014, is a worst-case scenario.

"If we have revenue growth in real estate and earned income taxes you may look at replenishing that loss…we don’t know yet," Sniscak said. "We have to keep tightening our belt and at the same time we have to prioritize what is important here."

He referenced last year's fund balance transfer of $3.3 million and reminded directors the district didn't have to use it all.

"We bit off so much of the apple the year before and it had us all very nervous but we didn’t spend near that amount of money," Sniscak said. "If we see positive real estate and mitigate our reassement losses we could be positioned better than we were a year ago."