For the Coweta County School System it is a case of so far, so good when it comes to watching the budget and holding down expenses at this point in the 2009-2010 school year. Superintendent Blake Bass at the Nov. 10 board meeting challenged school principals to help continue what today is a system that is $1.2 million under budget.

In a report by Comptroller Keith Chapman, school system figures showed total expenditures of $14,502,877 for the end of October compared to actual expenses of $13,300,447, a difference of $1,202,430.

Bass complimented the school system’s principals for watching the budget, adding that “we have to do this five more times to break even” given the number of cuts that came due to the tight economic situation,” according to school system Public Information Officer Dean Jackson.

By way of comparison, budget versus actual figures for the same period last year showed $14.656 million in budgeted expenditures compared to $14.651 million in actual expenditures.

A look at the revenue side for the end of October report showed actual local revenue sources up 57.97 percent at $4.135 million compared to the budget estimated at $2.618 million, due largely to property tax revenues beginning to come in. State revenue sources were down 43.25 percent to $4.103 million compared to the $7.231 million budgeted. Actual federal revenue sources totaled $2.682 million compared to the budgeted amount of $113,159.

The variation on revenue from state sources reflects state funding cuts while the large increase in federal revenue sources is due to the influx of stimulus money, Jackson said.

Jackson noted however that, on the revenue side, an examination of budget versus actuals requires a longer-term view since dollars such as those generated by property taxes, for example, are received in varying amounts depending on the time of year.

Also at the meeting, a report on the status of local 1-cent sales tax revenues, and consequently the recession, showed that revenues from the period of November 2008 to October 2009 totaled $20.02 million a decrease of $887,376, or 4.24 percent, from the $20.9 million figure from the November 2007 to October 2008 timeframe.

As for the school system’s status on reserve funds, Coweta has approximately $20 million in reserves, Jackson said, with a current millage rate of 18.59 mills.

Additionally, the school system is continuing the hiring freeze initiated at the beginning of the school year, Jackson said.

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