Alaska Gov. Bill Walker’s last-minute education cuts will cost Haines about $265,000, but most of that will be borne by the Haines Borough, not the school district.
Borough chief fiscal officer Jila Stuart said Walker vetoed 25 percent of the state’s reimbursement for recent school projects, amounting to a $225,207 cut that will be absorbed by the borough’s $2.83 million areawide general fund balance.
About $209,000 of the total is debt retirement for the 2007 school expansion project. The remainder is money from the state that pays for mechanical upgrades to the Voc Ed building and replacement of high school air-handling units.
Stuart said there’s no question about the borough picking up those construction payments. “It’s a general obligation of the borough.”
Walker’s cuts include about $38,000 in district funding in different categories, including student transportation and school foundation funding.
school board chair Anne Marie Palmieri said Tuesday the school district’s fund balances could absorb those costs.