Watching via a replay on ArlingtonStudios, I jotted down a few notes
Chairman Curro opens with apologies to people who attended previous ASC meeting -
executive session became difficult
Open Forum - no one signed up to speak
Budget discussion - lots of news this week - some good, some bad
Supt Bodie then CFO Johnson - deficit for FY2010 budget - directly related to loss of
revenue and extraordinary out of district SPED costs - press release went out today and
yesterday - closed FY2010 with a $1,525,021.04 deficit - teh State shrunk circuit breaker
funding from 65% to 42% - it went down $415,000 - it was tough to collect money from
Germaine lawrence School - $200,000 in cash from the City of Boston did not hit the books
until after July 1 - LABB voted not to distribute $200,000 - LABB credit of $250,000 was
fully expended in 2009 to backfill expenses (CFO not sure of specifics) - SPED out of
district costs rose $400,000 due to loss of several disputes with parents - overall, there
was a $2.6 million problem
Grants and misc sources now account for 19% of revenue (was 10% in 2003 ish)
Out of district costs have risen from 10% of budget to 14% of budget now
Cost cutting saved $1.1 million without cutting teachers - $250,000 will be saved by
Waltham entering the SPED transportation collaborative
Town Comptroller Ruth Lewis (?sp) - problem will most likely affect Town's bond rating -
Town has negative Free Cash now - bonds were floated 3 weeks ago with representation that
Town had $1 million in Free Cash - Lewis became aware of problem when reviewing end of
year payroll carryover report from Schools Budget Analyst (Janet) - typically is $3
million - was only $1.5 million - Town cannot set Tax Rate at this time because there is a
$1.5 million "illegal overdraft" on the Town's books - no other implications for Town -
Lewis did not see the situation coming (she was surprised by it)
CFO Johnson - could have done better tracking of salaries - MUNIS emphasizes sources of
revenue - previous accounting system focused on revenue from Town (General Appropriation)
- retirement incentives
Thielman to CFO Johnson - "we couldn't get monthly reports last year because of the
challenges that you articulated"
Someone - "used up a reserve that didn't exist"
Question about legal spending - $300,000 was allocated for legal fees in FY2010 - as of
May 2010, $265,000 had been spent - ($45,000 retainer plus $211,000 in non-retainer fees)
- legal fees range from $4,000 to $13,000 per month - should be under $300,000 for FY2010
- person with figures / spreadsheet is on vacation