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Uncertainty dogs Medford school budget By VICKI GUARINO Tonight's meeting Who : Medford schools budget committee What : Public meeting to discuss proposed 1999-2000 budget Where : South Medford High School cafeteria, 815 S. Oakdale Ave. When : 7 tonight For more information: Copies of the proposed budget are available to read at the district administration office, 500 Monroe St. Copies also will be available at tonight's meeting Facing a $2.8 million unknown, the Medford schools budget committee will plunge ahead tonight and review some $85 million in expenditures for the coming school year. The uncertainty in the budget lies in predicting the amount of money the state Legislature will wind up allotting to public schools, says Medford schools Superintendent Steve Wisely. The school funding debate in Salem has produced several proposals, mostly ranging from a low of $4.7 billion statewide for two years to a high of $4.95 billion. State funding is the backbone of all school budgets. And the bigger the budget, the bigger the uncertainty. For Medford, the ranges would yield $51.7 million at the lowest funding level and $54.5 million at the highest -- a difference of almost $2.8 million. Local property taxes are expected to contribute an additional $17.4 million. Other contributions and funding sources, such as federal forest fees, round out the budget. A more solid revenue picture isn't expected until around June 1, when the Legislature is expected to decide how much money to give schools for the next two years. But that is well after school budgets must be finished. Medford's school board already has scheduled a public hearing and is expected to adopt a budget June 21. The new fiscal year begins July 1. So at the moment, Medford and other districts are working with best-guess estimates. Locally, most are taking $4.7 billion -- the low figure from the Legislature's debate -- and writing budgets to match. For Medford's 12,500 students, the state minimum funding would maintain most programs. But this year's special efforts to boost purchases of texts and musical instruments, refurbish buildings and complete other special projects would be scraped, says Wisely. Any funding approved in excess of the $4.7 billion would be used to continue those efforts and start some new programs, including a class for behaviorally disturbed middle school students. The class would continue special classes now in place for Medford elementary-school students. The core of the school budget, the general fund, amounts to nearly $75 million, up 6.4 percent from this year. It represents most district operations, including wages of more than 1,000 employees, the single biggest expense. District employees are scheduled to receive a 3 percent salary increase, with the cost of benefits anticipated to rise 5 percent. The increase in the general fund reflects moderate growth in enrollment, 1.5 percent or so last year and this year. And Wisely notes that 1 percent of the increase, or $1 million, represents the district's increased costs to participate in the state Public Employees Retirement System. The salary-based pension rates paid by all agencies, including schools, has increased from 10 to 13 percent. The school budget also reflects the loss of $3.3 million, a one-time grant this year to schools through the Oregon lottery. The budget also includes gains, mostly through grants and other outside sources. For instance, the district will hire eight primary-grade teachers under a $280,000 federal funding initiative to reduce class size. All first-grade classes in six schools and all second-grade classes at two schools will drop to 18 or fewer students under the federal program. Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA