With Missouri’s General Fund revenues registering 7 percent below what was expected this fiscal year, public schools are facing an uncertain financial future, according to local administrators.
“When we know the state has a problem of about $1 billion, we are concerned,” Rolla Superintendent Dr. Jerry Giger said this week.
The $1 billion problem is the potential budget shortfall the state could face this fiscal year.
Tom Kruckemeyer, the director of fiscal policy and chief economist for the Missouri Budget Project, a non-profit organization, estimates in order to keeping the budget at its current level in fiscal year 2011 would cause a $400-million deficit.
Those projections are based on state revenues only being 4 percent less than expected. So far, state revenue is 7 percent lower than budgeted.
If Kruckemeyer’s projection pans out, and state law requires a balanced, more cutbacks this year could be needed. Gov. Jay Nixon announced $203 million in budget cuts in October, increasing the total amount of cuts this fiscal year to $588 million.
