Treasurer: Schools’ budget-cutting is paying off

By Harold Gwin

Three central-office administrative positions were eliminated by the board Tuesday.

YOUNGSTOWN —The city school district’s employee payroll has dropped 20 percent over the last three years.

The district was paying $60 million in salaries and wages in 2005-06, but that amount has been cut to $45.8 million this fiscal year.

Coupled with that is a reduction in fringe-benefit costs from $23 million to $19.6 million over that same period.

The elimination of 450 jobs over the last two years has been the key factor in reducing employee costs as Youngstown seeks to recover from state-declared fiscal emergency.

The state gave the district that designation in November 2006 after the school administration said the general fund was running a deficit. Youngstown’s spending has been under the control of a state fiscal oversight commission since then.

The district’s budget-cutting efforts are paying off, according to a new five-year fiscal projection presented to the school board Tuesday by Treasurer William Johnson, who called it, “a very positive-looking forecast.”

Youngstown had to borrow $25.4 million from the state in the form of solvency loans to balance its 2006-07 and 2007-08 budgets. The last $5.2 million of that debt will be repaid in fiscal 2009-10, according to Johnson.

The district is borrowing $5.2 million from its own building bond fund and will tap other district accounts for about $1 million more to balance this year’s budget, but, if all goes as outlined in the forecast, no further borrowing will be required as revenues will once again begin exceeding expenditures by 2010-11.

Johnson said the district is looking at its food service and self-insured heath-care funds to come up with that additional $1 million. It will be money the general fund won’t have to repay, he said, explaining that some utility costs could be shifted to the healthy food service account and the district could take a one-time “premium holiday” from the insurance fund, by not paying all of the monthly $1.3 million premium it has been putting into that account.

That fund is healthy and is expected to end this fiscal year with a cash balance of nearly $2.6 million, he said.

He pointed out that Youngstown is expecting a $1 million boost in state unrestricted subsidy funds this year due to an update of student attendance and teaching staff training and education data, all of which figure into the state-aid formula.

Youngstown has cut about $26 million in spending over the last two years and is looking at a proposal to cut an additional $5 million next year that would include the elimination of some 40 additional jobs, including four administrative posts.

The payroll would drop again to about $43.1 million, and fringe benefits would be down to $18.5 million.

The school board approved some of those administrative cuts Tuesday, informing Myron Mike McNair and Madonna Barwick that their administrative posts won’t be renewed. McNair serves as supervisor of community relations, while Barwick is supervisor of social studies. Those positions won’t be filled.

The board also accepted the retirement of another central office administrator, Rosemary A. Marich, director of data, effective July 1. She won’t be replaced, either.

gwin@vindy.com