HAMBURG SCHOOLS
Auditors give Hamburg schools high marks
After a stormy few financial years, the Hamburg School District has been given the all-clear by independent auditors for the 2008-09 fiscal year, with the analysts saying the district “did the things it needed to do.”
At the School Board meeting last week, auditors from Lumsden and Mc- Cormick said that as of June 30, the general fund balance exceeded $2 million. This is in sharp contrast to a $1.8 million deficit the district faced just two years ago, a situation that forced it into a number of austerity measures.
Thomas Bagley, director of administrative services, said Friday that a positive revenue environment helped the district climb out of the financial hole.
“It was a combination of good state aid, an increase in sales tax revenue and a moderate increase in taxes,” he said. “Also, no new programs were implemented during that time.”
Despite warnings from the auditors of tough financial times ahead for all districts — particularly with state aid cuts, declining interest earnings and increased health insurance costs—the district is remaining upbeat about the current year’s fiscal picture as well.
Laura Feldman, district treasurer, announced that as of Oct. 31, Hamburg will need less of its fund balance in 2009-10 to keep the budget balanced than school officials had previously anticipated.
With the first third of the school year completed, the district expects to use about $575,000 of the fund balance to meet expenses by year’s end, leaving a projected $1.4 million in the fund balance by June 30.
Expense reductions have made that favorable projection possible, Bagley said.
Each building budget has been reduced by about 25 percent, a bus run has been dropped, and the district has reduced some after-school late bus runs, the director of administrative services said. In addition, savings of about a half-million dollars were derived from personnel areas, mainly in positions eliminated by attrition.
Bagley cautioned that the numbers do not take into account potential budget cutbacks being discussed at the state level.
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