(Spotlight PA originally reported on budget letters).

This week, school districts and county officials across Pennsylvania got a letter from the state’s budget secretary. The reason for reaching out? Around $2.5 billion in state funds will be delayed for the next six weeks, because the state budget it late.

Budget secretary Uri Monson sent out letters on July 29 to public educators and county commissioners. The letter lines out the state budget process, say that progress is slow— then inform educators that $2.09 billion in state funds will be delayed over the next 6 weeks. 

 

The letter to counties listed out $542 million in delayed funds.

(copy of county commissioner letter at end of article; it shows delays from Dep. of Aging, Dep. of Human Services, and Dep. of Health)

Earlier this week, Republican Rep. Jesse Topper, the minority leader in the state house, said budget talks are “respectable but slow". Other lawmakers have said House Democrats, Governor Josh Shapiro, and Senate Republicans are no closer to a final agreement than they were a month ago.

While the negotiations continue, community organizations are paying the cost; literally.

“We're very reliant on what happens at the state level,” said Shane Murray, the superintendent for Iroquois School District in Erie County. Around 67% of the district’s budget comes from the state.

“When they are late with the budget, it puts more stress on an already stressed system,” Murrary said.

There are 500 school districts in Pennsylvania. When the state isn’t making payments, its on schools to fill the gap.

Some districts can pull from their savings and reserve funds,

“You know, we don't have a major concern until we get to about January, February,” said Kristopher Kaufman, superintendent for the Northern Tioga School District. 

But others are already strapped for cash. Murrary says he’s talked with districts that already had to pull out loans or lines of credit to meet their July payroll and other expenses.

“We're not in that state,” Murray said. "But if it goes much longer into September, we're going to be in that situation."

A late state budget also complicates local planning. The same as the state, School districts must pass their budgets by June 30th—even if they don’t know how much they will get from the state. This impacts local taxes and hiring decisions.

“If the state is going to increase funding from their level, you know, we may not need the tax increase that we end up building into a budget,” Kaufman said. "But we've got to build a tax increase into our budget to balance the budget.”

Uncertainty around state funding, combined with funding freezes from the federal level, has made planning for the school year difficult.

“You know, if I have somebody… do I fill the position, if they leave? Because I don't know what the funding is going to be,” Murray said. “But if I don't get somebody hired, I'm not going to have money here to meet the needs of our kids. So it's a complex moving problem.”