Finances could get very tight for Boone Central Schools this spring due to lower than expected receipts of property taxes and other revenues.
Superintendent Larry Lambert alerted the Boone Central School Board to the financial situation during last Wednesday night’s board meeting.
When the budget was set last summer, the school district was relying on an increased valuation and tax receipts from the VeraSun ethanol plant to fund budget increases in 2008-09. With the temporary shut-down of the ethanol plant and VeraSun’s bankruptcy filing, there is concern about whether the ethanol plant will be able to pay its first half property taxes by May 1.
Financial summaries show that the district’s CD investments have declined from a high of $1,135,000 last October to a total of $325,000 in mid-February. The school district usually receives a substantial boost in revenue by May 1, when first half property taxes become delinquent. The difference this year is that much of that revenue — some $400,000 — should be coming from one source, the ethanol plant personal property tax.
See this week’s Albion News Print Edition for details.
