PIERCETON - When Whitko Community School Corp. will receive its tax draws from Whitley and Kosciusko counties is up in the air, according to Whitko Director of Finance Phil Menzie.

The school corporation isn't even sure how much they will get.

"As we get ever nearer the end of the calendar year, we are attempting to project the financial position for Whitko as of that magical date of Dec. 31. Even though at this point we should be able to make some pretty accurate projections, there are still many unknowns that keep us from having a good grasp of our year- end balances," he said at the school board meeting Monday.

"Within the past couple days, I have been in contact with both Kosciusko and Whitley County auditors' offices to inquire about property tax distributions. Neither county is able to give me a date or approximate amounts that we should receive. They both anticipate getting us some money around Dec. 29 or 30, but at this point they are not willing to commit as to whether or not we will receive the balance of our 2004 tax levy by the end of the year as we are supposed to.

"Each year we borrow money for cash flow purposes under an arrangement called tax anticipation warrants. These warrants are to be repaid when the school corporation receives their tax levy for the year. Last year was the first year in recent memory that we had to roll over a portion of our debt to the next year because we didn't receive our tax draws in a timely fashion. If we don't receive a substantial portion of this year's levy, we will be forced to roll over some of this year's debt to next year as we did last December. We have already taken the requisite legal steps necessary to allow for this contingency.

"It remains to be seen what sort of changes are ahead for the state of Indiana as it relates to funding for public education. There has already been much speculation about the state's major deficit, the current funding formula for schools and the newly elected administration and legislative leadership.

"As has been the case for the past couple years, in the area of school finance, there are so many uncertainties that we aren't able to make many long-term projections, let alone short-term ones. We must continue to monitor our expenses and revenues as best we can and make adjustments as necessary."

Dave Tranter, Whitko School board chairman, said, "It's one of those things where we'll just have to wait."

Tranter asked if the reasons for this happening are supposed to end pretty soon.

Menzie replied, "That's the theory." [[In-content Ad]]