Board members with the Sheepscot Valley RSU 12 will discuss how they were able to reduce the 2011 budget during a special public meeting scheduled for April 28.
During Thursday night’s meeting at the Wiscasset High School Library, members voted to hold the open meeting to discuss both the current education budget and the upcoming 2011 budget. It will be held at the Whitefield Elementary School on April 28 at 6:30 p.m.
Board members held off on another 2010 education budget vote, with the Dept. of Education’s blessing, to concentrate on the upcoming fiscal year (2011).
The current working budget ($26,109,947 million) passed in town meetings, but did not pass the referendum vote, according to Finance Committee chairperson Gerald Nault. He said in a previous meeting RSU 12 would not be penalized by the Dept. of Education if the FY 2010 education budget were not finalized by June.
The committee’s monthly report submitted by Nault to the board shows $18,723,373 spent on 19 of the 26 warrants as of March 31, three quarters of the way (nine months) through the current year. A chart indicates areas where expenditure amounts were less than, equal to, or greater than what had been expected from these 19 warrants.
The chart shows the expenses represent just over 91 percent of the operating budget. Costs associated with regular instruction, special education, student and staff support, school administration and facilities maintenance were over 4 percent less than what had been expected. The cost of transportation, however, was up to 4 percent more than what had been expected, according to Nault.
As committee members continue to keep track of the operating budget, they have shaved off $1.2 million from the 2011 budget (for a total $24,879,630), which the board will consider adopting at the April 28 meeting in Whitefield. The 2011 budget should then be presented to town residents during a May 22 regional meeting, followed by a referendum vote in June.
According to the report, the amount to be funded by all eight towns in the district for the 2011 budget is $13,624,461 (compared to $14,442,409 for the 2010 budget).
This amount is expected to be combined with $11,255,461 in state subsidy American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA- “stimulus”) funds, Medicaid reimbursement and other revenue.
In his address to those attending, Nault said the finance committee was able to find cuts in the 2011 budget for a number of reasons, which were not available in working out the current budget. The main reason was the consolidation of eight school budgets put together the previous year.
“To make changes of that magnitude in those areas,” Nault said, referring to the reductions in towns’ local contributions, “requires more than a casual amount of planning.”
Nault said they were able to take advantage of vacancies, to transfer students into one school and to start a special education program, which should see savings in the future. He also mentioned a school union member was able to find savings in electrical costs for five of the schools in the northern part of the district.
“You can’t do that unless you have the time to plan,” he said.
