Central and Eastern Kentucky
(2009-11-02)
LEXINGTON
(Kentucky Public Radio) -
Kentucky's General Assembly is faced with writing one of the most difficult budgets in decades with an anticipated 161 million dollar shortfall for the 2010 year.
Money has already run dry in Kentucky's 'rainy day' fund and cash from the Federal Stimulus is expected to be gone by the next fiscal year.
House Speaker Greg Stumbo believes dipping into the contingency funds of Kentucky's school districts could be one way of dealing with the shortfall. But Fayette County Schools Superintendent Stu Silberman believes that everyone's going to have to tighten their belts a bit for this next fiscal year and dipping into the school's contingency fund is a gamble.
"Our contingency fund is at about 5% and that doesn't even cover a full month's payroll. And what we would like to be able to do is to have some of our payroll be covered in case of a serious budget deficit," Silberman said.
Governor Beshear must present a proposal for the 2010-2012 budget to the General Assembly by January 19th. He says he has no plans to propose raising taxes.
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