• Administration: $941,000 (includes a 5.4% increase over last year)
• Existing teachers: $8,163,000 (includes a 4.2% increase over last year, teachers eligible for a step receive 6%+; others receive nominal cost of living)
• Potential degree changes: $16,000 (reserved for increases for teachers receiving an advanced degree during the upcoming year)
• Substitutes: $120,000 (includes an 8.1% increase)
• Stipends: $238,000 (includes a 4.1% increase; stipends are extra pay for extra work such as drama coach, etc. It is our understanding that the stipends have to be authorized each year by the BOE)
• Special services: $36,000 (includes a 4.1% increase; appears to be special ed related tutoring)
• Early retirement program payments: $74,000
• Potential savings from staff retirements/resignations: -$20,000 (This is an important number and is often the source of significant savings. When a teacher leaves, a lower cost replacement is usually hired. For example, if single teacher with a Master's degree leaves and is replaced by a teacher with a Bachelor's degree, the amount saved can be as large as $25,000. The amount shown appears low to us based on historical staff turnover experience.)
• Staff requests: $36,000 (this would be a new hire)

Classified Staff Salary

This FY 03 budget line item of $1,715,000 is for all other personnel. It includes a 6.2% increase over last year. The only available breakdown is as follows:

• Salaries: $1,715,000
• Overtime: $88,000

Tuition

Tuition line item in the proposed FY 03 budget is $1,124,000 (an 18% increase). It represents payments for students sent out-of-district for treatment of various problems. The bulk is for emotionally disturbed students. The State provides so-called excess cost grants to cover tuition costs beyond a certain level. The grant is based on actual experience during the year and arrives late in the year. It is necessary to compare budgeted with actual tuition values to assess the likely accuracy of the budgeted value. This must be done on a consistent basis. The budgets do not include the grant while the actuals do. Including the grants in the budgeted values and comparing with actuals shows that the FY 01 and FY 02 tuition was overbudgeted (i.e. too high) by $146,000 and $122,000, respectively.

Surpluses in General

Taxes are based on existing budgets and increases to to those budgets. They are not based on actual expenditures. Of course, when actuals are less than budgeted, a potential surplus exists (that is, if it isn't spent elsewhere in the budget). A surplus that actually materializes is returned to the General Fund for possible use as revenue next year. Obviously, the temptation always exists to spend any potential surplus. When spent, taxes next year are higher because of the higher base and the lower available Fund revenue. A review of the Education and General Government budgets for FY 00, FY 01, FY 02 shows the following.

• In those three years, Education had $310,000, $352,000, and $545,000, respectively, of underruns (i.e. potential surpluses) in a few line items. The actual surpluses transferred to the General Fund was $14,000, $22,000, and $25,000, respectively. (Please note that the values for FY 01 exclude surplus money returned and immediately reappropriated for relighting the High School). 
• The General Government had potential surpluses of $155,000, $124,000, and $136,000, respectively. The actual surpluses returned to the General Fund were $139,000, $26,000, and $37,000 respectively.
• Clearly, potential surpluses are being spent on other budget line items. Also, it appears that Education returns a much smaller percent of potential surpluses to the General Fund than does General Government.