BAY MINETTE — Citing revenue shortfalls and Alabama’s constitutional obligation to maintain a balanced budget Gov. Robert Bentley declared 3-percent proration on the Education Trust Fund in a news release Monday.

“Both our Education Trust Fund and our state’s General Fund budgets are based on unreliable revenue projections,” Bentley stated in the release, noting that only five months into the fiscal year ending Sept. 30, “it is clear there is not enough revenue to sustain either budget.”

For Baldwin County Public Schools, the measure means the anticipated loss of an estimated $3 million for fiscal year 2011, and is the latest in a series of financial blows dealt to a cash-strapped system still reeling from lost revenue associated with a four-month oil spill.

Bentley argued, however, that careful analysis by both the Alabama Department of Revenue and Department of Finance, revealed shortfalls of $165 million and $110 million respectively in the education and General Fund budgets. Bentley also announced Monday plans to prorate the General Fund by 15 percent once priority agencies that “provide necessary and critical services” have been identified.

According to the release, State Finance Director David Perry said mid-year cuts are the only way to achieve a balanced budget.

“The taxpayers expect us to live within our means just as families and businesses are forced to do,” Perry stated in the release.

Read the full story in the Friday, March 4, edition of The Baldwin Times