Local tax support for the Dillingham City School District will remain steady for the coming year at $1.7 million.
The Dillingham City Council debated school funding last Thursday amid pressure on the city’s budget as well as the school district’s needs.
Council member Steven Carriere tried to cut the city’s support in half to about $860,000, the minimum required by state law. He said the city is in tough economic shape going into their budget season this spring and a $1.7 million appropriation would be a detriment.
“If we give this to you, we would be remiss in our fiduciary duties in order to keep this city afloat,” Carriere said. “We do not have the funds to sustain the city after we give your entity $1.7 million. This is not a vote against the school district. It is my responsibility to be fiscally responsible for this community.”
No other council members supported the cut.
Council member Kevin McCambly proposed the exact opposite increase – spending the maximum amount the state allows of just over $1.9 million.
McCambly is also a member of the school board and its finance committee. He ran through some rough math about the property tax impact of the increase, after accounting for the portion of the city's 6 percent sales tax required to go to schools.
“I came up with the 2 mils on top of that, according to state statute, that is what we are allowed to appropriate,” McCambly said.
Which would mean allocating $200 more from annual property taxes per $100,000 of assessed value.
No other council members supported that, either.
Ultimately, the council voted 2-2 on the original $1.7 million appropriation with McCambly and Carriere casting the “no” votes.
With two members absent, that wasn’t a passing vote. Though, after missing an April 18 deadline, the end result was the same: the $1.7 million requested defaulted into effect.
This is the third year in a row contributing $1.7 million to the school district. Before that, the city gave $1.3 million dating back to 2017. But city officials say in past years, the city's savings were inflated by federal COVID-19 relief money that’s now running dry. Last year, the city ran a $5 million dollar deficit, using savings to cover deferred maintenance and other major projects. They say uncertainty in state and grant funding, along with declining savings, make current spending levels hard to sustain.
The Dillingham City School District was forced to make major cuts during its budgeting process this winter. The council’s vote came the evening after Gov. Mike Dunleavy vetoed a bill that would have raised school funding by about $1,000 dollars for each student enrolled in the district, known as the Base Student Allocation.
The school district’s budget did not incorporate the tentative BSA increase. District officials say if lawmakers approve a one-time funding boost, the extra money would restore cuts to school supplies in several departments and the substitute teacher budget, both of which were cut in half.
James Hall, the school district’s finance director, says the state’s underfunding education has left the district bare-bones. The district was forced to cut 12 positions for next year, along with money in nearly every department. He says without an increase in the BSA, the school district has become more and more dependent on the city to stay afloat.
“If we don't get any more state funding, then the number that we keep going back to them [the city] is going to increase every year, or we have to make more cuts,” Hall said. “And we're at the point now that I feel like, if we cut any more, you start to affect the education of the students that we have.”
He says only time will tell what impact the major cuts will have on the school district.
“I think next year will really tell us the story,” Hall said. “If we have to operate with the staff that we have, I think that's really gonna tell the story.”
City officials say with this appropriation, cuts in city services are likely, though they don't know where, yet.
