NORWICH – Faced with a gap of roughly $3 million between revenues and expenses – in addition to substantial cuts in state and federal aid – the Norwich City School District enlisted a retired administrator and educator to draft a long-range report on their financial situation.
Superintendent Gerard O’Sullivan – who first met Dr. Richard Timbs of Bernard P. Donegan Inc., several years ago – said one of the school board’s 2011 goals was to come up with a three- to five-year financial plan, aimed at providing some long-range perspective. Timbs’ long-term planning report and presentation early last week were covered under a service contract the district has with Bernard P. Donegan Inc. as a financial consultant, according to Deputy Superintendent Rob Wightman.
While the ultimate fate of districts all across New York state remains in question, Timbs said, in his opinion, Norwich has done a commendable job weathering the financial storm to date.
Reading from a 50-page document he’d assembled from information provided him by the school district, Timbs constructed a detailed history of exactly how and where money was spent in the past and where the district could be headed in the next few years during Monday night’s school board meeting.
Even with the district’s combined administrative costs, hard-hitting, unfunded state mandates and other increasing costs – increases in pension contributions of $230,778 and health insurance premiums of $382,561 among them – Timbs said the district’s efforts appeared quite economical.
“You obviously tried to hold the fort on tax increases, which is rare these days,” said Timbs, who added the real property tax levy had remained “pretty flat” between 2007 and 2010, at $9,891,811 and $9,881,832 respectively.
Timbs did warn, however, that even with the district’s attempts to stay sound, some pretty massive cuts are coming its way. Within two months, he said, schools throughout New York state may well see the loss of between 5,000 and 6,000 teaching positions.
Wightman said it’s all about right-sizing the school district the best way possible without being too overzealous when it comes to cuts to programs and staff.
“We need to take it one year at a time and see what works to keep the district viable,” said Wightman. “This is a wholesale problem and we’re not alone. The good news is, we have a life preserver. The bad news is we’re on the Titanic.”
On a positive note, Timbs said the district had done a credible job keeping its reserve fund balance in the green. The problem with that, he admitted, is that the district is going to need every penny.
“You’re going to be counting paper clips and, sooner or later, you’ll run out. You don’t have a lot of time,” said Timbs. “The state is in a fiscal abyss and this has been a long time coming; time is not on your side.”
Like many other districts, Timbs said he believes Norwich has been victimized by the state’s out-of-control process.
In fact, even if the district were to freeze salaries and impose a 2 percent tax levy increase in the next handful of years, Timbs projected the district’s total expenditures would continue to outpace its total revenue. In 2011, he projected expenditures of $37,090,193 versus $35,869,853 in revenue. In 2016, expenditures could increase to over $40 million while revenues would remain at around $35 million, he said.
Both O’Sullivan and Wightman said that shared services between the Norwich City School District and BOCES – or another district – remain a definite possibility, especially when it comes to operational aspects such as transportation.
“There is that potential and that could make a lot of sense,” added Wightman.
Regardless, O’Sullivan said people can expect the “big yellow school buses” to continue to run come September and the district will continue to provide a quality education for students.
“That’s our goal and our responsibility and we will do it. We may look a little different, but we will do a good job. We will do it,” he said.