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02/09/10
School Board approves $940,000 budget adjustments to address curtailment, other expenditures
The School Board Feb. 9, 2010, unanimously approved a list of adjustments to the 2009-2010 budget designed to meet an anticipated $621,440 curtailment in state subsidy.
The adjustments approved by the board moved an additional $318,500 to fund added expenditures for special education, ($166,500), and, staff retirements, ($152,000), for a total of $939,940.
The bulk of the adjustments, $341,829, comes from undesignated fund balance, followed by a transfer of Medicaid reimbursements, $210,429, that were to have been used in next year's budget.
The School Department is also forecasting a $125,000 saving from a spending freeze on supplies, books and staff development. The freeze was instituted in October, soon after the schools got word of the impending curtailment.
Before voting on the budget adjustments, School Board member John Christie credited Superintendent Alan Hawkins for having the foresight to hold back the funds, making the mid-year budget adjustments less painful than they might have been. "I just wanted to thank Alan for what I think is cautious fiscal management that's gotten us to the point where we could this year absorb this cut without cutting academic programs," Christie said.
The remainder of the $939,940 will be met with a premium from bond refinancing, $73,110, and savings from debt service, $32,572. Savings from a freeze on capital improvements and contracted services will contribute $70,000, and all of the schools' $70,000 contingency will also be used. An additional $17,000 savings in salaries and benefits will be realized due to a budgeted special-ed. position that was not needed.
Looking ahead to 2011
Having decided how to deal with this year's revenue shortfall at their Feb. 9 meeting, board members also looked ahead to next year's budget as they listened to Hawkin's budget update.
Preliminary figures from the state show Cape Elizabeth losing $40,000 in state and federal funding next fiscal year, a figure well below the $900,000 drop officials had been told to expect, but still leaving a gap of $897,433 if the board expects to retain the same $18.7 million spending level of this year.
The nearly $900,000 projected shortfall represents $654,000 in contractual increases in salaries and benefits forecasted for next year, as well as estimated increases in energy costs, special education costs, and, $200,000 in undesignated surplus that will not be available to bring forward next year.
Cape Elizabeth's share of state general purpose aid to education was based on its state property valuation, which fell 6 percent at a time with the state average rose 3 percent, Hawkins said. It also includes federal stimulus funds. However, Hawkins said, Cape Elizabeth's reduction could be $110,000 higher if the Legislature reverses a decision to penalize school districts that have not complied with consolidation legislation.
The board will further discuss what kind of direction to give Hawkins in building his 2010-2011 spending plan at their next Finance Committee meeting and workshop, scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 23, in the High School library. (updated Feb. 17 - The Finance Committee meeting will begin at 7 p.m., followed by the workshop at 7:30 p.m.)
In a related matter, the board voted to authorized Chairman Rebecca Millett to sign a joint resolution from the school boards in Falmouth, Cumberland, Portland, Scarborough, South Portland and Yarmouth calling on the Legislature and the governor to adopt a fair, equitable and transparent model for the funding of public education in Maine.
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