Some Butler County school districts already are making plans to line up alternative funding if the state budget impasse continues much longer.

However, that is not the case for all districts.

State funding varies widely among the districts, from 26.9 percent of Seneca Valley's district budget, to 68.1 percent of Karns City's district budget.

Those percentages are from 2012-13 school year statistics on the Pennsylvania School Performance Profile website, the latest numbers available.

Karns City will consider taking out a line of credit in a few months if a state budget is not approved. Karns City Superintendent Eric Ritzert said the district will receive nearly 70 percent of its funds from the state this school year.

“A significant portion of our funding comes from the state,” he said. “It definitely hits us harder than a school district that receives less from the state.”

It receives more than others based on a formula the state creates based on residential income and market value of homes in the Karns City School District, Ritzert said. Poorer districts generally receive more from the state; wealthier districts generally receive less.

In the absence of state education subsidies, the district estimates it will have enough money in its fund balance — about $4.1 million — to fund itself through the end of January. But by the end of December the district projects it will have used more than $3.1 million, leaving a little more than $1 million.

State funds are stalled because the Republican-controlled Legislature and Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf cannot agree on a 2015-16 state budget.

A state budget is supposed to be set by July 1.

The Moniteau School District also receives more than 60 percent of its funding from the state, but John D'Amore, district business manager, anticipates being OK financially for awhile.

“I did a cash flow projection for the (school) board, and we're good through January,” he said.

He does not expect the district to draw from its fund balance.

D'Amore said real estate taxes started arriving by Sept. 1 to provide funds for the district. He said the more a district relies on state funding in comparison with real estate taxes, the more risk there is for a cash flow problem.

“We had an adequate fund balance to get through the year, which supports the notion that you should have a decent fund balance for unforeseen circumstances,” D'Amore said.

On the other end of the spectrum at the Seneca Valley and Mars school districts, the smaller amount of state funding those districts receive does not pose as large of a problem.

Lynn Burtner, Seneca Valley's business manager, said the district is more locally self-reliant.

“That is the first point of why we can sustain longer than other school districts without feeling crisis,” Burtner said.

She said the other reason the district is better off than most is because the officials have worked to ensure that the district has enough fund balance to get it through the summer months until the real estate collection cycle begins.

Jill Swaney, the Mars business manager, said Mars is not heavily impacted by the state budget issues yet because 70 percent of total revenue at Mars comes from local taxes. The district received about 27.7 percent of its budget from the state.

“The (state budget) disruption doesn't create the issues (in Mars) that it does in districts that receive a majority of their funding from the state,” Swaney said.

Because school districts offer residents a discount on their real estate taxes if they are paid by Sept. 30, Mars receives most of its tax revenue in August and September, Swaney explained.

She said the other reason the state budget impasse doesn't affect Mars is that the school district budget has a fund balance that can be used if needed.

Other districts aren't in either extreme, but are taking the necessary precautions if the state budget impasse goes on.

The Allegheny-Clarion Valley School District has been watching its money since July.

“At the beginning of our fiscal year, we put a hold on buying any kind of supplies, nonessential instructional items,” said David McDeavitt, superintendent. “We're paying all the essential expenditures that are coming in, but we're taking it item by item.”

It has been paying bills through revenues, and would get a line of credit with Farmers National Bank, if necessary.

The South Butler School District is OK financially, and has not sought alternative funding. Paul Slomer, South Butler's business manager, said with local revenue coming in through the end of the year, he doesn't anticipate any issues.

Slippery Rock School District business manager Paul Cessar said the district is OK so far, but may need to borrow money at some point.

“We're in a good cash flow position at this point, with the real estate tax revenue coming in next couple weeks,” Cessar said.

The local real estate tax is the largest single piece of the district's $30.4 million operating budget.

It expects 80 percent of those taxes to be in by the end of September. It also has tapped into reserve funds in recent weeks to help cover some bills, Cessar said.

If the state budget impasse extends into late November or early December, then the district would likely need to get a revenue anticipation note, a type of short-term loan, to cover expenses.

The school board may be asked to approve such a note ahead of time, so the district can be ready if it is necessary.

“You can't wait until the day before you need the money. It's a 3- to 4-week process,” he said.

The Butler School District has been monitoring the situation each month. Debbie Brandstetter, business manager, anticipates it being OK until late winter or early spring.

“We're really going to be OK until February or March,” she said.

After that, Brandstetter said the district would need to seek a revenue anticipation note. About $2 million to $5 million would need to be borrowed, and taking out the loan usually has a $2,500 fee.

“Our hope is that the budget impasse is settled by the end of 2015, and we wouldn't have any need to do that,” Brandstetter said.

Freeport School District business manager Ryan Manzer said that if the impasse drags into December, school officials there will begin looking into their own line of credit to fund operations.

As of August, Manzer said, Freeport had cash reserves of about $4 million. The district is also entering its “steady-flow” time of the year for local tax collections, he said.

“We are cash positive right now,” Manzer said. “At least currently we do not anticipate needing any line of credit in the near future.”

About 41 percent, or $11.9 million, of the district's $28.6 million 2015-16 budget comes from state revenue, Manzer said. State officials missed a basic education subsidy payment to the district in late August, so currently Freeport is about $1.6 million short in state money compared with last year.

It's local tax collections that are propping up the district in the meantime. Manzer said the district's estimated revenue from local taxes this year is $14.7 million; it collects that money at a rate of about 94 percent.

Union School District Superintendent Jean McCleary said the budget impasse prompted the district to freeze all of its purchase orders about three weeks ago, except for “extenuating circumstances.”

McCleary said the district, which has a total budget of $11.8 million, has also tapped into a mature CD to free up hundreds of thousands of dollars toward expenses.

The CD normally would have been rolled over and earned a low interest rate throughout the year, McCleary said. Instead, the funds will be used to allow the district to continue to operate through December.

“It's just unfortunate,” she said of the impasse. “That CD would have automatically started to generate revenue. Instead it's just the opposite; we're spending that (money) to pay bills.”

More than 74 percent of the district's budget comes from state revenue, McCleary said.

Eagle staff writers Joe Genco, Paula Grubbs, Laurie Lindsay, Kate Malongowski, Whitney Randolph and Phillip Rau contributed to this report.