Here comes the tab

Published 10:16 pm Tuesday, February 15, 2011

It’ll be interesting to see how the Legislature handles Gov. Bentley’s administration’s announcement of 15 percent proration for state agencies. Not all state agencies will suffer the same because some, like ALDOT receive some of their monies from set taxes that can’t be touched. Others, though, will really suffer because the fiscal year began Oct. 1, 2010. If you count it, February -March means the state is into about the 5th month of its fiscal year. By the time proration rolls around, it’ll be the last portion of the fiscal year, which means those agencies will see 30 percent pull backs, not 15 percent. That’s gonna hurt. Haven’t heard anything about the schools. Everyone is holding their breaths.

Speaking of schools, it seems Selma is not the only school system facing hard times. Huntsville has dire financial issues and Montgomery is talking closing schools.

How tight will this state have to pull its belt and how much will that trickle down to the rest of us in lack of services?

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We’ll be watching carefully as the Legislature takes these and other issues on beginning March.