State Proposition failures spell (more) financial woes for San Carlos…

Sweeping Defeat Means More Cuts

Communities throughout California are bracing themselves for the fallout from the resounding defeat of the statewide propositions 1A through 1E on Tuesday.  San Carlos city officials are working up numbers on the impact to both the City budget and to the School District, and the preliminary results are not pretty.

San Carlos City Budget

The defeat of  these propositions leaves the door open for the State of California to borrow from local municipalities to close its own budget deficit.  According to Assistant City Manager Brian Moura, San Carlos could possibly lose $800k – $1M as part of the $22M that San Mateo County will likely be stripped of if the state moves ahead as planned.  For more information on this, click Michelle Durand’s analysis in today’s Daily Journal.

City Council Member Omar Ahmad met with the Governor recently, and penned an open letter to him outlining the impact to San Carlos if they indeed lose this additional $1M — for the context of this letter click here:  Omar Ahmad’s Blog

San Carlos School District

A recent concern that has surfaced for school administrators throughout the state is  Governor’s recent revision to the state budget, which is referred to as the “May Revise.”    This budget revision implements additional cuts in funding to many critical services, including education.  According to School District Trustee Mark Olbert, the outcome of Tuesday’s election will push the San Carlos School District into a deficit of approximately $1,255,500 for the 2009/2010 school year.  Even if they dip into the School Board reserves, they’ll end up with a deficit of $788,000 since they are mandated to keep a minimum of 3% cash reserve.

This issue is scheduled to be discussed in tonight’s board meeting, which is currently scheduled for 4:00 PM today  in the District Conference Room, behind Central on Cedar Street, but it could be relocated to the Central Middle School library if attendance warrants.

For more info about the potential school budget cuts,  click here and reviewing the downloadable documents.

Many Questions, Few Answers

Obviously, this is a very high-level view of a very dynamic and complicated problem, and there are many questions that need to be answered by our elected officials.  But they are united in their warning to the citizens of San Carlos brace themselves for painful cuts that are almost a certainty this year in both our city services, as well as our school district.  Stay tuned for more…

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1. Financial woes may spell trouble for San Carlos Teachers contract negotiations…
2. School Budget Woes Cause Some Home Buyers to Re-Think Strategy.
3. San Carlos School Board Shifts Focus Back to Budget Woes.
4. It’s (semi) Official: San Carlos Measure S is Dead…
5. Breaking News: San Carlos School District to cut $1.4M from next year’s budget.