Schools across the state were expecting to lose another $19 million from their budgets, but due to a miscalculation of funds, they’ll dodge this loss.
The Tulsa World reports that the Oklahoma State Board of Equalization failed to recognize a $43.8 million cash balance in what is known as the 1017 Fund. This fund is a dedicated revenue stream for education made up of sales taxes, tobacco taxes, gambling revenues, and other things. In January, schools were told this fund would run dry, and they would face cuts due to lower-than expected revenue collections. But when the Oklahoma State Board of Equalization met on Tuesday, that didn’t happen.
Andrea Eger, of The Tulsa World, asked the state Department of Education and the Office of Management and Enterprise Services for answers, and said they weren’t easy to come by:
“The Oklahoma State Department of Education and the Office of Management and Enterprise Services are working together regarding the 1017 Fund,” said Steffie Corcoran and John Estus, spokespeople for the two state agencies, respectively, in a joint press statement Wednesday afternoon. The two agencies said the $43.8 million wasn’t “newly found,” although they offered no explanation for why officials from both entities weren’t taking into account those 1017 funds when they indicated in January that school budgets would have to be cut about $19.1 million as a result of lower-than-expected revenue collections.”
State Superintendent of Public Instruction Joy Hofmeister said the information about the funding cut originated with state budget officials, and that’s why they told schools to anticipate a coming loss.
Due to this mishap, the Oklahoma Democratic Party called for an immediate audit of every state agency whose funding is overseen by the executive branch.
Budget officials say one more round of cuts for schools should be expected before Fiscal Year 2016 ends on June 30. In January, $47 million in state funding was cut for public schools’ current year budgets because of sharp declines in revenue collections in the state’s general fund.
