Mountain View School Division's preliminary budget report was not all doom, but it certainly was not without gloom.
The Division will be short $1,067,525 for the 2016-2017 school year, which they attribute to lower revenues coming in from all levels of government, and basic areas of expenditures becoming more expensive.
Secretary Treasurer Bart Michaleski says, despite the deficit, there will be no reductions in student services or level of staff.
"At this point, the budget does not propose the reduction of staff. Again, what we tried to do was look for areas in the budget we could reduce without staff reductions."
Michaleski says recent changes in property assessment values means local school taxes could increase for some households to help make up the difference.
He says the average home could see increases of around 4.96%, although larger farm operations will be hit the hardest by tax increases. Depending on property values, some homes could actually see their taxes go down.
Anyone who missed last night's budget consultation meeting can check out the full details at http://www.mvsd.ca
The division will have until March 30 to approve a final budget, and in the mean time, the public is welcome to comment on it by contacting the school board.
