LINDEN – While education funding has taken a hit across the state, the proposed FY2012 budget for Linden City Schools falls well in line with its FY2011 predecessor.

During Monday evening’s budget hearing, Linden City Schools Chief Financial Officer LaKendra Raby offered a proposed budget that sees LCS with a total revenue of more than $6.076 million. The budget also calls for expenses totaling just over $5.884 million, leaving a surplus of $189,294.

Those numbers are not far off from those of last year, when the system budgeted $6.068 million in revenue and $5.938 million in expenses for a difference of $129,876.

The budget comes with little to no reduction despite a significant different in federal funding. The FY2011 budget called for $1,088,902 in federal revenues while its FY2012 successor allows for only $833,012.

Those numbers are offset by slight increases in state revenues, up nearly $200,000 from a year ago, and an increase in other revenues of approximately $78,000.

While the proposed budget calls for slight increases in both instructional services and instructional support services, it also has built-in decreases in operations and maintenance, auxiliary services and general administrative services as well as a reduction of more than 50 percent in other expenditures.

Salaries and instructional services make up more than 45 percent of budgeted expenses with just more than $2.6 million allocated. Instructional support services accounts for 21 percent of the budget with $1.2 million.

Just more than 20 percent of budgeted revenues are expected to come from local monies, including $145,000 from Ad Valorem taxes and $340,000 from county sales taxes.