The Bethlehem Central School District’s state aid payment will be coming in a little light as a result of Gov. David Paterson’s promise to withhold $750 million of municipal and school aid payments in an effort to combat the state’s worsening fiscal situation.
BC’s Chief Business and Financial Officer Judith Kehoe said that about $105,000, or 10 percent, would be withheld from the aid payment, which should arrive on or around Dec. 15. She stressed the deferral will not have any immediate impact on programming.
The impact is from a cash flow standpoint. To the extent that we don’t have it we’re not able to use it to pay for resources, she said.
Paterson announced Monday that he would be holding back the aid.
The district had been examining Paterson’s earlier plan to make extensive mid-year cuts to school aid. BC was scheduled to have its roughly $28 million in annual state aid reduced by $1.6 million.
`Given that they were initially talking about a sizable reduction mid year, a delay in payment is the less harmful option,` Kehoe said.
The BC 2009-10 budget totals $87.6 million.
There is no word on when the withheld money might be released. Kehoe said she plans to an update at the Wednesday, Dec. 16, meeting of the Board of Education.
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