Schools facing nearly $500,000 Shortfall...

...This year.

Amid a budget year that started off with a fight to get the County Commission to properly fund schools, the Sumner County School system reports it is receiving $1 million less than projected and will have to make mid-year cuts to meet this year's budget.

The cause? Less BEP growth money from the state. While the state's share is $1 million less than expected, the County sales tax growth could cover at least half that deficit.

The problem? The state is NOT actually fully funding the BEP -- only $31 million was available to fund BEP growth, but $41 million is needed to meet projections. Despite claims that the Governor has "fully-funded" the BEP in his budget, it appears he's at least $10 million short for 2011-12.

In spite of this shortfall, the Governor is proposing tax cuts for millionaires that would cost the state at least $14 million. This could mean the BEP growth budget is under-funded in 2012-13 as well.