Now that an Oct. 15 deadline has passed, local school districts in the state may have to raise property taxes by tens of millions, with the state Senate and state Assembly still disagreeing on the budget.
The state Department of Instruction must know the amount of funding they will give to K-12 schools, with the deadline being Oct. 15 by state law.
Due to the state budget being unfinished, the DPI stated yesterday it would have to use last year's funding levels, which are less than the amount allocated by the Joint Finance Committee in earlier budget negotiations.
We have about $79.3 million less to divvy up across the state,"" said Patrick Gasper, communications officer for the DPI.
According to Gasper, districts may be forced to choose between cutting programs, staff and departments or raising property taxes.
It has also led to renewed talk surrounding state Assembly bills 506 and 507, both of which fully fund local schools and governments.
According to John Murray, spokesperson for state Assembly Speaker Mike Huebsch, R-West Salem, Huebsch is attempting to call the Legislature into extraordinary session to pass the bills.
""Assembly bill 506 and Assembly bill 507 [would] prevent a $600 million property tax increase,"" Murray said.
The ongoing budget process and local schools would best be served by focusing on the two bills immediately, according to Murray.
State Sen. Robert Jauch, D-Poplar, and other Democratic leaders want to pass the budget as a single bill to avoid losing funding in other areas.
""The Assembly legislation is a political hoax,"" Jauch said. ""If we were to adopt Assembly bill 506, the state would be left with a $1.1 billion hole with existing obligations.""
According to Jauch, if the bills pass, as many as 12,000 students will not be able to afford to stay in school because AB506 does not provide the necessary $12 million in financial aid.
Both sides stated they were open to continued budget negotiations.
