Liberty Expects Budget Shortfall

The Liberty School Board is considering freezes on hiring and on salaries to deal with projected budget shortfalls, officials say.

District spending could dip into the red next year and be as much as $28 million more than general operating fund revenues by the 2011-2012 school year, according to a report prepared by Carol Embree, the district’s chief financial officer, and Interim Superintendent Mike Brewer.

Board members received the news at a Sept. 6 work session. The Liberty School District is in the black currently, but reserve funds will drop from $12 million this June to about $9 million next June, Embree said. And it will likely take immediate spending cuts to achieve that $9 million in reserves.

Deficit spending would begin in the 2009-2010 school year without changes.

Click here to read the entire story by Kansas City Star reporter Bill Graham.

Clay County Tax Levy

Clay County Commissioners on Monday agreed to keep the county’s property tax levy at 24 cents and use a portion of it to fund road and bridge maintenance.

Faced with having to make severe cuts in the 2008 operating budget, commissioners last year reluctantly approved a 24-cent property tax levy to fund road and bridge maintenance. That tax is expected to generate about $8.4 million this year.

Click here to ready the entire story by Kansas City Star reporter Glenn E. Rice