Cliff Buchan
News EditorOn the surface it seemed like the thing to do. By cutting its own pay, members of the ISD 831 School Board would be sending a positive message to staff and the community.
It is all part of a district plan to address general fund budget shortfalls and a campaign to ask voters to approve a new excess operating levy in November of 2005.
But when the board set about the formal action to roll back its wage last week, the decision was not unanimous. The board ended up approving a 10 percent pay rollback for the 2005-2006 school year, but members Keith Dunham and Jody Krebs were in dissent.
Calling the action ìtrivial,î Dunham questioned the message it would send staff and the public in light of the more serious financial considerations the district is facing. Does the action mean other employee groups should take a 10 percent pay cut, Dunham asked?
ìIt just seems very unusual,î Dunham said.
Krebs was also in opposition to the rollback but did not explain why she voted no.
Under the board member compensation plan now in effect, members are paid $200 a month with the board president receiving an additional $200 annual stipend and the clerk and treasurer receiving annual stipends of $100 for extra duties.
For regular board members, the rollback would amount to $20 a month or $240 for the full school year.
Board members are also paid $75 for half-day meetings and $150 for full-day special meetings that take place beyond the school district boundaries.
With the idea of the plan to show some school board sacrifice during the next school year, members Karen Morehead, Dean Barr, Joe Grafft, Rob Rapheal and President Bill Bresin were in support.
ìWe are all trying to do something,î Morehead said, calling the rollback a ìgood faith effortî that would show teamwork on the boardís part as some $2 million in cuts are made.
Dunham, however, didnít buy the argument and called the compensation move ìsymbolic and shallow.î
Lighting retrofit
As the board continues to look for ways to creatively save money and help the general fund budget, one method may be found in a lighting retrofit project. By way of a 7-0 vote last Thursday at its regular meeting, the board agreed to spend $403,581 for a lighting retrofit project.
School officials said the annual cost avoidance for the project is $70,000. The program will be funded through the Xcel Energy Efficiency loan program over a five-year period.
The Retrofit Companies was the successful low bidder for the lighting retrofit. School officials said the pre-bid project estimate was $465,000 and that the $70,000 annual cost avoidance is a conservative figure.
Egan Companies ($453,531) and Weber Electric, Inc. ($438,000), both bid the contract.
Reporting for the building and grounds committee, Dunham said the committee is reviewing ways employee behavior can be changed to achieve additional energy savings.
Fund balance update
The school board last Thursday also received a preliminary general fund audit update from the boardís finance committee. Board member Dean Barr said improvement is being seen in the districtís fund balance.
In the districtís unreserved fund balance, the district had a positive balance of $177,944 for the 2002-2003 school year, Barr said. The districtís budget for 2003-2004 projects the fund balance to increase to $897,707.
Barr and school officials reported last Thursday the expected 2003-2004 unreserved fund balance outcome is now $1,896,948. The figure is unaudited.
The formal audited financial report for the fiscal year that ended June 30, 3004 will come to the board at a later meeting.
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