Back to $chools!

In Ventura County, a total of $170,434,823 was taken out of school-allocated property taxes to pay State obligations in 2010-2011.  $142,250,553 was redirected to satisfy the State's VLF backfill obligation.  $28,184,270 was redirected to pay for the State's 2004 Economic Recovery Bonds.  In 2011-12, the total was $168,182,035. 

 

In 2011-12, $202,751,716 was not paid to K-12 school districts until after the end of the school year ($139 millon of which was formal deferrals).  Thanks to Proposition 30, this dropped to $107,081,908 last summer.  This year, the First Principal Apportionment has already detailed $65,210,172 in deferrals past June 2014, with approximately 50% more expected in the Second Principal Apportionment later in the school year.  Ventura Community Colleges face about $13 million in deferrals this year.

 

Ventura County should be slightly more fortunate than other California counties, in receiving about 35% of the diversion back before the end of the year.  (30% is the average.)  This may be little comfort to Oxnard Elementary and Oxnard Union High, as they figure out how to cope with at $15 million arriving in arrears between them, or Simi Valley Unified looking at a late payment of $7 million, Ventura Unified at over $5 million, and Fillmore Unified, Hueneme Elementary, Moorpark Unified, and Conejo Valley Unified, each looking at $2+ million in late payments.  The County Office of Education will be $10.6 million short this June.  Plus whatever more is unveiled with the Second Principal Apportionment for each of them -- and smaller amounts for all the other districts.

 

Source:  State Controller's Office, Local Government Reporting Section.  (City and county detail shown in the reports, totals upon request from the SCO.); California Department of Education, First and Second Principal Apportionments.