Budget back in the limelight at City Council

School finances were in the limelight again Tuesday when the division’s deficit and budget for the next year were discussed at length.

Continuing questions surrounding the division’s $440,000 deficit in the last fiscal year stalled the approval of some of the housekeeping measures needed to correct the issue on the city’s books.

School officials had hoped to put the previous fiscal year’s deficit behind them during Tuesday morning’s finance committee meeting.

“I want to resolve this as much as we can today,” said Superintendent Paul McKendrick, adding he wanted to move on to talks about next year’s budget.

Since December the school system’s finances have been scrutinized after the city’s annual audit report revealed the deficit, which the school division was unaware of previously. An expected end-of-the-year surplus of $1.4 million also wasn’t realized.

The finance committee tabled talks Tuesday about transferring $440,000 from the textbook reserve fund to a budget balancing contingency reserve fund to make up the deficit. If at the end of the year there were a fund balance, the money would be placed back in the textbook fund.

Also during the meeting, some officials suggested doing away with the budget balancing contingency reserve fund and, instead, transferring the money to the city’s general fund.

“If you want to clean up ’08 the quickest way in my mind is to take $440,000 and give it to the city,” City Manager Kimball Payne said. “There’s no down side as far as I’m concerned.”

The lengthy committee meeting, which ended abruptly just seconds before council’s regular work session, ended with-out action on the transfer and with Councilman Jeff Helgeson wanting more answers. He requested school officials come back with actual expenditures for 2007 and 2008.

Following the meeting, Garrett asked if he could unilaterally seek to have the textbook fund transfer brought to the full council.

“I just think we need closure,” he said.

While it’s not unheard of for an item to be placed on an agenda at the request of one council member, in this case Payne and Vice Mayor Bert Dodson advised against it, noting the finance committee had not made a recommendation yet.

Garrett did raise the transfer again that afternoon during roll call, a period of open discussion where council members make announcements, propose new ideas or submit questions to staff. He suggested the textbook money be transferred to city coffers and used to restore salaries for city employees, who are losing 1 percent of their pay due to a mandatory furlough.

Payne said the furlough-induced salary cuts had already begun and said they may be difficult to restore. He’s expected to make a follow-up report to council at a later date.

City Council will discuss rescinding $1.3 million in appropriations in the schools capital projects fund at its April 14 meeting.

At council’s afternoon session, school officials were once again before city leadership. This time to present their budget for next year, which totals almost $87 million and represents millions of dollars worth of cuts to positions and programs. The division has requested level funding from City Council, which generated some discussion.

“Have you looked at the city side of it? It’s got to be a little bit of a working relationship,” Helgeson said to school board members, adding the city is making cuts while the board is asking for level funding despite a decrease in enrollment.

Helgeson noted the city funds much more than is required. School officials countered by saying funding the minimum amount will not help students or the city.

McKendrick said children come to the division behind, explaining that some students don’t know how to hold a pencil, what the front of a book is, or that reading is done from left to right.

“Poor children need and deserve so much more because they come to us as poor children,” McKendrick said, adding they often don’t have the necessary support at home. “What do you want for these children and what do you want for this city?”

City Council meets next to discuss its budget March 31.