Stories indexed with the term ‘structural deficit’

At the Washtenaw County board’s May 15, 2013 meeting, the county financial staff and administrator Verna McDaniel gave an update on the 2013 budget status as well as a preliminary look at the next four years.

At its May 1, 2013 meeting, the board had approved development of a four-year budget. Looking at that period from 2014-2017, McDaniel told the board on May 15 that she hopes to identify $6.99 million in structural cuts in the first year of that four-year period. That’s a slight increase from the $6.88 million in structural changes that McDaniel targeted in her previous budget briefing, delivered at the board’s Jan. 16, 2013 meeting.

If the $6.99 million in structural changes can be identified in … [Full Story]

Washtenaw County government will be working to erase a projected $24.64 million deficit over a four-year period from 2014 through 2017, with a target of eliminating a $6.88 million structural deficit next year. County administrator Verna McDaniel and her financial staff gave a budget briefing to county commissioners at their Jan. 16, 2013 meeting.

The county works on a two-year budget planning cycle. In late 2011, commissioners set the budget for 2012 and 2013. However, because state law mandates that the board must approve the budget annually, commissioners voted in December 2012 on a budget “affirmation” for 2013, making several adjustments to the $102.8 million general fund budget. This year, they’re beginning the two-year cycle anew, planning for 2014-2015, with … [Full Story]

Ann Arbor Public Schools board of education study sessions (Dec. 8, 2010 and Jan. 19, 2011): As the AAPS school board begins planning for the 2011-12 budget cycle, it has devoted two recent study sessions to strategizing about how to respond to the structural deficit in Michigan’s education funding.

The first session, held in December, focused on affecting state funding through legislative advocacy, and resulted in board approval of a detailed set of education funding principles that will be presented to state lawmakers for their consideration. [.pdf of funding principles]

At the second session, held last week, trustees brainstormed potential routes toward enhancing revenue at the local level.

In addition to continuing to advocate for funding changes at the state level, options suggested for local revenue enhancement included: increasing private giving; securing additional grant funding; running another enhancement millage campaign; licensing school logos on apparel; improving customer service; leveraging business partnerships better; continuing to develop new programs; and allocating funding for more robust and targeted marketing strategies to increase enrollment.

Finally, the board also acknowledged the need for some spending cuts in addition to increasing efforts at revenue enhancement. [Full Story]