Tahoma School District staff want to get a jump on the next budget cycle.

This year, though, it’s going to be a challenge.

“We start early, but, it’s hard to do,” said Lori Cloud, the district’s director of finance and operations, on Nov. 30. “It’s hard to get excited about the end result until we get to the end result.”

And the district may not have a handle on what the end result will be until after the state legislature convenes next spring.

With the legislature meeting in special session now, Cloud said, and the governor’s proposed education funding changes out, there are some things the district does know and can plan for at this point.

“We anticipate that levy equalization will receive a major overhaul,” she said. “Right now we receive about $900,000 worth of (levy equalization).”

District spokesman Kevin Patterson explained that the state provides levy equalization for districts that can’t collect the amount of levy dollars needed so that is supplemented in state education funding. For example, the Renton School District doesn’t need equalization because it has a dramatically larger tax base than Tahoma, due in large part to a greater commercial base as well as the presence of The Boeing Co.

So, the state supplements the ability to collect dollars through levies to level the playing field, so to speak.

“The good news is that it looks like they won’t implement that change until 2013,” Cloud said. “They’re going to be taking our (levy equalization) away because we don’t qualify in the new three tier system. So, we’ll be able to make that up with the (maintenance and operations) levy. It will be a wash.”

Cloud added that the maintenance and operations levy, which is put to the voters for renewal every four years, is not collecting at the district’s maximum capacity so the rates can be raised.

Districts were also bracing for the possibility that class sizes would increase in fourth through 12th grade but at this point, Cloud said, the governor is advocating for shortening the school year to save money.

This is just one example of the ever-changing nature of the state education funding formula.

“For this school year, it’s hard to control much,” Cloud said. “The money, for the most part, is spent or encumbered. The question is what’s going to be cut because there are going to be cuts.”

Cloud said the district went through the cutting process most recently in 2009. In the end, it wasn’t as bad at district officials feared early on in the process, thanks to additional federal funding that came through.

“We’ve been through the process of cutting, cutting, cutting,” she said. “I’m not sure how the board will want to handle this. We’ve already presented this information to the school board about where the cuts may be. We haven’t made any recommendations and the board hasn’t offered any guidance.”

For now, there is only so much that can be done.

“We’ll wait until after the special legislative session and the first of the year (before continuing with the process),” Cloud said.