A balancing act for budgets

CORNWALL — Spending at Cornwall Consolidated School (CCS) will be a balancing act viewed in the long term, as the expenses continue to rise, aid drops and student enrollment is estimated at a 25 percent decrease in the coming years.A proposed 2013-14 school budget was presented to the Board of Finance March 14 with a 1.53 percent increase, and Principal Michael Croft’s assurances of careful monitoring going forward.“We are hyperalert to enrollment projections,” Croft said. “This budget represents losses, such as a reduction in the counselor’s position. We will fill needs with other resources in the region and creative thinking with grant money. We need to strike a balance between being responsible to taxpayers and maintaining a robust school.”While fewer students will mean some savings, overhead costs will remain essentially the same.With a current enrollment of 102 students, CCS has one classroom per grade in kindergarten through fifth.Major factors in the budget are a combination of ups and downs. There are also proposals to upgrade security and to add much-needed insulation to the gymnasium. Croft explained that the proposed budget reflects a bus contract that was supposed to be renegotiated for a zero increase. That “fell through” the day before the budget was presented; there is now a 1.8 percent increase, or about $4,000. That is not reflected in the proposal as presented.Teachers and the principal will get a contractual 2 percent increase. That’s a total of $17,907 for teachers, and $2,040 for Croft, whose salary will rise to $104,040.A 10 percent health insurance increase, with some adjustments to the way staff enrolls in the health-care plan, will rise by 7.2 percent, or $21,115.An unknown that remains to be factored into the spending plan is the AFSCME union workers’ contract, which is being negotiated now. A 2.5 percent increase is expected. The contract should be finalized in April.In a discussion that included school board members and selectmen, options were explored.First Selectman Gordon Ridgway suggested that $25,000 that had been set aside for a playground expansion be applied instead toward the security upgrades.Finance board members agreed with that approach.The playground work is on hold for now anyway, and the money can simply be reallocated to security work so that new tax dollars don’t need to be raised. Croft called the estimate for the cost of the security upgrades a “moving target,” with varied approaches and costs coming in from bidders.The gymnasium insulation project is estimated at $7,000. Phil Hart, speaking for the school board’s standing building committee, said heat is escaping at the south end of the building. The original insulation met building code. Requirements have since increased. The school does not have to meet them, but substantial savings are anticipated if the insulation is upgraded.Croft said the school is seeing an almost $9,000 drop in heating costs with recent upgrades in other parts of the building, to heating controls, water heaters, air handlers and more.In the current budget (2012-13) a Region One School District tuition refund of $15,000 is expected, due to a decrease in regional enrollment. The Cornwall Consolidated School proposed budget is currently at $2,545,583. The Region One assessment is expected to drop by 1.05 percent to $1,524,481. The difference is $15,017, or a .37 percent increase.The Board of Selectmen has proposed a $42,214, or 2.55 percent increase in municipal spending for a total of $1,695,433.On the agenda of the March 21 finance board meeting is a response to both budget proposals, along with more solid numbers on the school budget. They will also begin looking at where the mill rate might go for the fiscal year that begins July 1. Factoring in will be a grand list of taxable properties that is down very slightly, and the always uncertain state revenue numbers.A public hearing is set for April 26. Finance members will approve a final proposal at their May 16 meeting. Voters get to decide on it on May 17. All meetings are at Cornwall Consolidated School at 7:30 p.m.