Centennial staff outline budget shortfall in five-year forecast; district offers a PA 1000 rent/property-tax rebate option

Mr. Greenwood, a district staff presenter, reviewed the Centennial School District’s budget outlook April 22 and said the district expects multi-year operating deficits unless revenue or expense patterns change.

Greenwood told the Committee of the Whole that the board is working with administration to reduce controllable costs and that locally driven revenue (largely real-estate tax receipts) makes up the overwhelming majority of the district’s revenue. He said the board’s budget-development calendar targets a June 10 meeting to adopt the budget and warned that failure to adopt a budget by PDE deadlines “risks possible withholding of state funding.”

Why it matters: Greenwood showed a five-year forecast that projects deficits each year as expense growth outpaces revenue growth. He said four categories (special education, pension/PERS, charter tuition and debt service) account for roughly 44% of the general fund and are…