January 10, 2007
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Joseph Gillis Jr.
You can do something!
Over the past couple of weeks there have been discussions by some about the mistake by the B-R School Committee in having discussions with Berkley about tuition or regional options. There has also been criticism over addressing expenses for opening the new high school, controlling ‘fixed’ costs like salaries and insurance, and a perceived lack of effort on the part of the School Committee to come up with a budget that the two towns can afford. To address the issues, let me take them one at a time.
(1) We have had discussions with representatives of the Berkley School District for a while now. It has not been a secret, and has been reported in the papers. A recent meeting merely had a reporter who decided to write a story. Representatives of B-R are doing what you expect of your elected leaders – thoughtfully and meticulously reviewing an option that could improve the education offered within the district. No decisions have been made. Further, if any other school district wished to discuss options with us, we would be happy to have those meetings also.
(2) There will be costs to open the new Regional High School. On May 29, 2003, then School Committee Chair Tim Fitzgibbons stated at a School Information Session that costs for heat, phone, electricity, custodians (7) would total $683k per year. We are exploring options that might minimize those costs – including authorizing the School District to put together a package for RFP (request for proposal) for maintenance services.
(3) Controlling line items within the budget is a top priority of the School Committee. Four members (Budget SubCommittee) meet regularly to review the budget, current year-to-date, and forecasts to continually update and revise categories as needed. Some costs only increase – utilities, transportation, special education, salaries and insurance.
(4) Coming up with a budget that the two towns can afford… interesting thought. Since I am more familiar with Bridgewater’s numbers than Raynham, I would like to refer everyone to Bridgewater’s three-year-budget plan (available on the town website). For FY2008, the forecast amount for B-R is listed as $19,128,125 vs. B-R School Committee’s current forecast of $19,135,112 and a difference of $6,987. The School Committee is still working on the budget, continuing to re-adjust numbers, and hopefully reducing the requests to the two towns. However, it needs to be stressed that the original release of budget forecast was pretty dead-on with the forecast prepared for the Bridgewater Board of Selectmen.
It is not clear what will happen next for the Town and B-R budgets. Obviously, there are problems in resolving the dollar differences. The Bridgewater Selectmen have put forth their budget proposal that includes roughly $17.1M for B-R vs. the two other budget proposals that anticipate $19.1M for B-R. To me, that points to a fundamental problem in the finance.
Which brings many to the issue of a Prop 2 ½ over-ride – perhaps a solution, perhaps not. Whether for or against an over-ride, I firmly believe that the question is best handled early in the process rather than at the end of the budget cycle. I applaud Canton for bringing forward their question now – it allows everyone to plan accordingly. Otherwise, all departments are trying to go forward with two different budget plans – one with an over-ride and one without. – until a vote.
Last over-ride in Bridgewater, I was squarely on the side of the ‘NO’ people. The issue was resoundingly beaten. An over-ride this year, who knows? However, it is disappointing that the issue cannot even have a discussion of its merits. No different from discussions about Berkley or finances, merely an opportunity to rationally discuss the topic. Then, let the citizens decide the outcome and move on. That is the democratic way.
