Budget crisis will take more than a resolution

Douglas County joined other Nevada school districts to oppose Gov. Jim Gibbons 4.5 percent budget cut for public education.

School board members passed a resolution on Tuesday saying that budget cuts would affect the district's ability to educate the children in their care.

Gibbons asked the school districts to plan for cuts after they were added to his budget plan in mid-December amidst the outcry over 8 percent cuts sought from the university and community college system.

It would give us no greater pleasure than to report that the state's economy has turned around and there is plenty of money to support the public schools and the colleges, but so far that does not appear to be the case.

Nevada school districts are supported by a 75-cent per $100 assessed valuation property tax. That money is split among the districts based on their student enrollment.

Nevada Association of School Districts President Sharla Hales points out that each year money remaining after the distribution goes into the state's general fund.

Hales asserts that if that money were left in the school funds, the governor would have his 4.5 percent.

It's just one of several issues that come up when times are tight that should be addressed by the Legislature when it goes into session next year.

In the meantime, difficult financial times will affect both government and private concerns and all the resolutions in the world won't raise a single dime of revenue.