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Falls City School District State Aid Certified

By Matthew Leaf

04/15/2014

(KTNC) -- The Nebraska Department of Education has certified state aid to school districts for the 2014-2015 school year.

The Falls City School District is seeing another reduction in the amount of support it will get from the state, continuing a trend of increased reliance on property tax revenue to support the district’s budget.

District 56 will receive just over $605,000 in state aid next year, compared to $825,000 in the last year, a reduction of nearly $220,000.

The equalization aid equals a district’s needs minus its resources, and the Falls City School District's resources – with increases in property values combined with various federal grants – outpace the district’s needs.

Superintendent Tim Heckenlively says it wasn’t long ago that more than half the school district’s budget came from state aid, which is paid in equal payments over 10 months. Next year’s total state aid equals less than one month of claims for the district.

The move to more funding through property tax payments means an increased reliance on the district’s cash reserves to pay the bills and affects how the district budgets. Heckenlively says they’re seeing more peaks and valleys in the general fund balance and they need to budget enough in necessary cash reserves to meet expenses in the months when they don't get payments from the Richardson County Treasurer.

The state aid was certified after Governor Heineman signed legislation that makes changes to the state aid formula for the next two school years.

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