Why Didn't the School Know about the Budget Deficit Earlier?

We’re all a little curious.

Driving through town one morning, you may wonder if that vacant building you pass will ever be occupied, why there’s no stoplight at a certain busy intersection, how long it takes to complete a road project or one of a million other questions about your town.

That’s where Patch comes in. With our feature, “You Ask ... Patch Answers,” we will strive to find the answer to all your questions—big, small and in-between—about the town we live and work in. Whether it’s something you’ve always wondered about, some information you just can’t put your hands on or a sudden curiosity, we want to hear it.

Send your queries to Jennifer.Lucarelli@patch.com or leave them in the comments section below, and I will do my best to dig up an answer for you. You also can call me at 508-330-7763.

This week, a Facebook fan asked why the didn't know about this year's almost $5 million budget deficit sooner.

. You can read the full transcript here.

In a nutshell, the town's budget process is contingent on getting final numbers from the state, which doesn't usually happen until March or April at the earliest. Morgado said there are some predictions, but the state legislature along with the state and federal government numbers aren't firmed up until well into the town's budget planning process.

Here's what Morgado said in the chat:

"When we begin our initial budget discussions, it is usually late fall and early winter. When assumptions must be made relative to revenue that will not be paid to the community for an extended period of time. In many cases, up to 18 months in the future," Morgado said.

"Since revenues from the Commonwealth and the federal government are so dependent on the business cycle, the conservative approach requires a conservative estimate be taken.

Therefore, large gaps between revenue and expenditures are realized during the early months of the budget development process. If we had a much shorter much development process, then the gap would be much smaller. Since we would have an idea of what types of revenues we can expect to be paid to the community either from the Commonwealth or federal levels of government.

Unfortunately, the state legislature really does not to thinking about what level of support will be provided until mid-April. Meanwhile, we are developing budgets in November, December and January previous."

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