Sparks fly over school budget
It was a tense encounter between Shelter Island School District Business Manager Tim Laube and Board of Education Vice President Linda Eklund Monday night.
At issue was what Ms. Eklund called a “moving target” of budget numbers she said made it difficult for her to track changes and ask questions that would help her determine where spending cuts can be found.
“When am I not going to have a moving target?” she asked Mr. Laube.
“It will be as final as we have it at that moment,” he responded about various numbers changes that have come up in the budget process.
The latest numbers distributed to the board Monday night were “dramatically different” from the numbers board members had received the Friday before the meeting, Ms. Eklund said.
Mr. Laube explained that the changes were the result of his line-by-line examination of the budget, with each line requiring a look back of up to four years. The information he sent to board members on March 18 had changed by March 21 because he spent the weekend and Monday revisiting budget lines and making changes he concluded were necessary.
But it made it difficult for board members who hadn’t received the new numbers until they arrived at the meeting Monday night, Ms. Eklund said.
“I’ve only done this for seven years,” Ms. Eklund added.
By this point in previous years, she said, she had received numbers giving her a good idea where spending would be by the end of the fiscal year in June, and what spending projections were likely for the next year.
Superintendent Leonard Skuggevik said he had asked Mr. Laube to distribute the new numbers Monday night, but understood members wouldn’t have time to review them prior to the meeting.
“This is a work in progress,” Board President Thomas Graffagnino said.
“It’s a lot of pressure to be responsible for the financial future of the community,” board member Elizabeth Melichar-Lechmanski said. “We want to be as well informed and prepared as possible.”
The focus Monday night was on the facilities budget and debt service, with the latest numbers from Mr. Laube projecting:
• Decreased spending by 3.95 percent for plant operations and maintenance from $685,186 to $658,096, mostly attributable to less spending for equipment.
• Increased costs of debt service from $245,261 to $461,140 or 88 percent, resulting from the $1.6 million bond voters approved in 2014; payments for an energy performance contract with Johnson Controls; and a tax anticipation note.
Losses are anticipated in the cost of operating the school cafeteria, Mr. Laube said. Because the district is so small, the cafeteria can’t make a profit without raising prices considerably. Still, he projected a 7.25 percent decrease in that budget line from $78,460 in the current year to $72,775 next year.
By the next budget session, Monday, March 28, board members are expected to begin their line-by-line review, looking for ways to reduce the amount they will have to pierce the state-mandated tax cap for the 2016-17 budget. Without piercing the 0.12 percent cap, the district would have to limit spending increases to $11,305.
The March 28 session is set for 6 p.m. in the board conference room.
Future budget sessions are planned for 6 p.m. on April 4, 11 and 18 with adoption of the proposal on April 20. Voters get the final say at the polls on May 17.
