Prop L Tax Hike Keeps 70-80 Jobs for Lindbergh Schools

After years of “weathering the economic storm,” Lindbergh School District will not have to use any reserves or make drastic cuts in the upcoming school year.

The proposed $60.8 million budget is the first reflecting a voter-approved $8.3 million tax increase in Nov. 2010.

The school board gave its consensus on the proposed 2011-12 budget during a workshop Tuesday night at Crestwood Elementary School.

The additional revenue stems from Proposition L, which school officials say was needed to balance the upcoming budget, following a loss of more than $15 million in tax revenue since the beginning of the recession in 2008. The board had previously stemmed the tide of red through more than $6 million in budget cuts, and spending down cash reserves.

“Was Prop L needed?” Assistant Superintendent Patrick Lanane said Tuesday. “Oh yes, because no other help was coming. . .Without it, tonight would have been a devastating night, and no one would have wanted to be here to do the work that would have been necessary.”

Lanane, who also is the district’s chief financial officer, later said the work would have included cutting between 70 and 80 positions within the district.

Without the tax increase, the district could not meet its projected $2.1 million increase in operating costs. School officials predict those costs will be offset with an increase in operational revenues of $7.5 million in the upcoming school year.

Sales tax and tuition revenue are also expected to have increases totaling about $160,000, but all other revenues will fall nearly $850,000 in the coming year.

Lanane noted Tuesday’s workshop was the culmination of a yearlong process in determining the district’s budget.

“What we are doing tonight is just one step in a complex process held through the year dealing with finances,” he said. “The goal of a budget is to provide high quality educational programs and we have been able to do that in the past several years during a severe economic downturn.”

The lone increase in fees for families stems from a federal mandate regulating the cost of student meals within the district, Lanane said.

The Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act will likely raise the cost of student breakfasts by 5 cents and student lunches by 10 cents, in the coming year.