Monday, January 20, 2014

A Reflective Look at the BOE Superintendent's Recommended Budget from You Know Who.



Okay - I've looked at the Superintendent's Recommended Budget by Major Object Categories and have several comments and questions.  I would like to have further information or perhaps the amounts changed prior to the adoption of the budget.
My first problem is with the salaries; there is one line item for all positions under each category that does not indicate the number of bodies.  As a long time union officer, in the past it was difficult to determine the actual number of "legally" hired employees and "temporary" employees.  The line item for Adult Ed Classified salaries shows only $43,760 however there are at least 4 positions listed in the literature from the Adult Ed department so from line item are the positions being paid from?

The line item for Purchased Services has been increased from $893,910 to $3,238,591, an increase of $2,344,681, and according to the Patch article this is for Sodexo for food services management, waste removal and other services.  In the past, I believe that the cafeteria services were under a separate budget and not included in the general BOE budget?? Also, unless these are NEW services, one would expect to see reductions in other lines to offset this increase which I do.  However, the reductions that I see only total $1,647,515 which is $697,166 less than the increase??

I realize that this is the initial request for the coming year but I believe that the BOE needs to do a better job of substantiating their request.  More detail would only reduce the questions and go a long way in gaining support.

2 comments:

  1. Where is the Transparency in the BOE budget. Just seems like more of the same, as the public is left in the dark once again.
    The city budget has line by line but the BOE doesn't. Something is wrong with this picture.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Bill, if the Middletown Board of Education budget is not sufficiently transparent for your taste, why not just go to the next public meeting of the BOE and try to convince them to make their budgets more clear? Do you really think that sounding off about this issue on FB or the Middletown Insider is going to get you the transparency you claim you want?

    ReplyDelete

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