Would it solve the districts budget problem if employee groups agreed to meet the districts compensation reduction targets?
A. Capping health benefits as the district has proposed and rolling back salaries by 10 percent would save about $18.8 million in 2009-10. Whether that resolves the budget problem would depend on how severe the state funding cuts turn out to be and what our expenses are in 2009-10. Based on the governors budget proposal, we estimate that the district would face state cuts of $15 million to $21 million in 2009-10, on top of the $3 million to $4 million in unresolved operating deficit we are projecting for 2009-10. So currently the best information we have suggests the districts gap between revenue and expenses for 2009-10 could total $18 million to $19 million on the low end and $24 million to $25 million on the high end.
