Here's a problem that is coming down the pike ... declining assessment values on homes. I have been meeting with a lot of superintendents lately with a colleague and a topic that has come up is the potential for declining home values to blow up school budgets. Typically assessment cycles occur over a period of years, but it is going to be hard for local governments to hold assessment values high as the few homes that do sell, sell for much less than surrounding homes.
So, as you are pondering the current problem of declining legislative appropriations, keep in mind the bigger problem may still be coming if this doesn't turn around in a couple years.