Today’s Oak Ridge CAFE article puts the City’s “share alike” plan into perspective, with a very easy to follow analogy… but it’s just part of the picture.
In the FY07 budget, municipal expenditures (police, fire, public works, community development, recreation & parks, library, general government and administrative services) increased by the same percentage (4.25%) as the allocation to the schools, but they didn’t increase equally: the City’s share went up by $664,419, while the school system saw an increase in City funding of only $492,068.
Oak Ridge Schools represents 42.55% of City government expense (excluding special funds like solid waste, golf course fund, etc.).
Maryville devotes 68% of the local budget to schools, and they, like us, are a full-service city with police, fire, libraries, parks, etc.
Alcoa spends 56% of its city budget on schools — and that’s before debt service, which would raise the percentage.
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“Share and share alike” isn’t really the case within the City departments, either; several departments saw increases of greater than 4.25%; General Government, Police, Fire, Community Development, and Recreation and Parks all got bigger increases, with Community Development leading the pack at a 7.8% increase. Those larger increases were offset by decreasing percentages for Administrative Services and Public Works.
The schools’ budget, or any budget for that matter, would be really easy to develop if one simply applied a percentage increase to each item, and left it at that. To do so would be grossly irresponsible though; each year, we assess our needs, priorities, and external costs (things we don’t have any choice about paying for)and budget accordingly.
If the school systems was truly considered on equal footing with City departments in allocation of funding, shouldn’t the allocation be based upon justified need (as is the case with other departments), rather than a fixed percentage?
I hope this year will be different.
I agree that the cost-of-living (really the cost of competitive wages) increase is just the beginning of the budget process. The problem is that the schools are not getting their part of that pie because of unequal application of the city’s process. Of course the city’s claim to being fair when they are not irks me too.
I would dearly love to see the City go through their budget, line by line, the way the School Board does. City Council used to do so, but no longer does. If they did, it’s likely that citizens might question individual line items when another department was being shortchanged.
It does take a few hours, and several days of study, but budgeting is probably the most important responsibility of the School Board OR City Council.
If it’s all out in the open, it works better for everyone.