County OKs Schools Budget

The 1990-91 Torrance schools budget has been accepted by the Los Angeles County Office of Education, after school officials answered the county’s earlier questions about the adequacy of their reserve fund.

“What we showed was that we have had a number of funds with reserves,” Torrance Trustee Owen Griffith said. “We really made no change in the budget, but I think we provided some explanations, and they said those explanations are OK.”

The county last month suggested that the Torrance district was not providing sufficient reserve money in its $80-million budget for 1990-91. The county said the district had overestimated its lottery income by at least $317,000 and failed to include money for an additional $440,000 fee the district may need to pay the county for collecting and distributing property taxes.

In a Nov. 28 response, Torrance Schools Supt. Edward J. Richardson wrote that any shortage in lottery income would be offset by an anticipated increase in state aid because the district enrolled about 300 students more than expected. The district has about 19,600 students.

In addition, if the district is forced to pay a $440,000 fee to the county, it plans to take the money from interest in its building fund, Richardson said.

The new fee is to take effect in January, 1991. The district already had budgeted $440,000 for the fee, but the county questioned why the district did not budget an additional $440,000 for the 1989-90 year, since the fee may be applied retroactively, Richardson said Thursday.

The California School Boards Assn. is mounting a legal challenge to the fee, and Torrance is supporting the effort, officials said.