Financial Uncertainty Looms for Rohnert Park and Cotati Schools

The could be even worse off than officials originally thought. Gov. Jerry Brown issued a statement last week declaring that he was halting budget negotiations with Republican lawmakers because of what Brown said was their unwillingness to place his proposed tax extensions on the ballot.

Without the tax extensions, the district's funding for average daily attendance — the largest revenue mechanism, at $4,856 per student if they attend every day — could be slashed by $349 next school year.

“We’ve been planning for that all along,” said Wade Roach, the district’s chief financial officer.

Roach called it a best-case scenario.

He said he’s crossing his fingers that state funding doesn’t get worse than that. The Rohnert Park and Cotati schools are already suffering from declining enrollment — less students means less money for the district. On top of that, state monies guaranteed from Proposition 98 for schools could be cut.

“If state revenues are lower because the tax extensions don’t go into place, the state revenue drop could result in lower funding for K through twelve education,” Roach said. "They could suspend Prop. 98 funding and say 'we can't afford that, we'll record it and keep track of it and pay you back in the future, but for now we can only afford X amount.'"

“There are discussions around the state that there could be reductions from $800 to $1,200 per student,” he said. “But that’s the Armageddon scenario, we’ll know on May 14 when we finish drafting our ’11-’12 school year budget."

In Brown's Youtube statement, he expressed his frustration, saying: "Yesterday, I stopped the discussions that I had been conducting with various members of the Republican Party regarding our state’s massive deficit."

On March 24, Brown signed several bills that would reduce the state’s budget by $11 billion. He had hoped to move forward with his plan and garner support from the Legislature for an additional $12.5 billion in spending cuts and $12 billion in temporary tax extensions.

“The budget plan that I put forth is balanced between deep cuts and extensions of currently existing taxes and I believe it is in the best interest of California," Brown's statement said. "Under our constitution, however, two Republicans from the Assembly and two from the Senate must agree before this matter can be put to the people. 

 “Each and every Republican legislator I’ve spoken to believes that voters should not have this right to vote unless I agree to an ever-changing list of collateral demands.”

Some of those demands were mentioned in a letter that the governor sent to state Senate Republican Leader Bob Dutton on Friday. In part the letter said:

"I was surprised and frankly disappointed that you came today with a very long list of demands (53 separate proposals), many of which are new and have nothing to do with the budget," Brown said. "Your list of demands—if met— would undermine my entire budget proposal by undoing major elements and extending the taxes for only 18 months.”

In halting negotiations, Brown said he plans to focus his efforts in the coming weeks on speaking with Californians to find  “honest and real solutions” to the budget crisis.