DALLAS (AP) _ Dallas schools trustees have been told that the district needs a $100 million loan in order to pay all of its expenses through the next school year because the district’s reserve funds are insufficient to meet budget costs.
Dallas schools executive chief financial officer, Larry Throm, said the borrowed funds would carry the district until state money kicks in.
The Dallas Morning News reports Throm told trustees tonight during a budget meeting that the $100 million loan will cost the district an estimated $1 million in interest.
School districts usually tap their reserve funds to meet budget costs until certain revenues become available during the school year. But the newspaper reported the school district’s reserve fund, or fund balance, is dangerously low at $30 million for a district its size.
The reserve is low because of a $30 million deficit, which school officials have tried to reduce with various measures including cutting jobs.
Throm told trustees the full effect of the cost savings efforts would kick in and no deficit would exist in next school year’s budget.