Published: October 15, 2008 12:35 am            

CITY OF TONAWANDA: School district's finances are in order

After several years of struggling, the Tonawanda City School District’s financial situation is the best it’s been in 15 years, an outside auditor told the Tonawanda School Board Tuesday night.

Simply put, revenues are up, expenses are down, and the district has managed to continue paying off its debt, said Richard Ertel of City of Tonawanda-based accounting firm Amato, Fox & Co. “To me, that’s a recipe for a good district,” he said.

Tonawanda spent $862,000 less than projected last school year and received $265,000 more than budgeted, largely due to an increase in sales tax revenue and a $65,000 infusion in state aid.

The district’s fund balance was $1.5 million, or nearly half a million dollars higher than it has been at any point since the 1992-93 school year. It was at its lowest — $293,462 — four years ago.

A significant portion of the district’s savings can be attributed to contracts Tonawanda signed with its four unions, a major part of which involved moving to a single health insurer to reduce costs.

Moreover, the district’s new grant writer position has already paid dividends, yielding several new revenue streams. That includes creating an educational foundation to maximize revenue sources.

“What that indicates to me is, the board is very conservative and very good about cutting costs,” Ertel said. “The hard option is to cut costs, and that’s what you’ve done.”

Since the auditor’s report covers last fiscal year, the data does not reflect the re-assessment project the City of Tonawanda conducted in the spring to bring its equalization rate up to 100 percent.

It does mention the $6.6 million voter-approved capital project that was recently completed. The entire project is being funded through state aid and will not produce a tax increase for district taxpayers, the auditor’s report states.

The audit did identify one problematic area that has since been corrected. On four occasions, the district didn’t properly complete applications for free and reduced lunches, Ertel said, adding that Assistant Superintendent for Business and Finance Peter Michaelsen has since put in place controls to prevent that from happening again.

Board members were particularly pleased with the audit. “Everyone in this district, from the administrators down to the students, have really worked hard to achieve what we achieved,” said board President Joyce Hogenkamp. She thanked the community for standing by the district when it made budget cuts.

Board member Anthony Melchiorre lauded members of Tonawanda’s negotiating team who helped produce significant savings.

In a separate matter, the board welcomed back a familiar face by unanimously appointing Jim Weber to serve the remainder of the term vacated by longtime board member Charles Heylmun, who resigned last month for personal reasons.

Weber served as board president for three years before deciding not to run for a second term in May because he wanted to devote more time to his business.

“I understand it’s a bit of an unusual circumstance. But I will continue to do whatever I can for the children of this district,” Weber said. “It’s good to be back.”

Contact reporter David J. Hill at 693-1000, ext. 115.

        

• Click to discuss this story with other readers on our forums.