School Board Transfers $229,000 To Pension Budget

By Larissa Lytwyn

The Board of Education approved a transfer Tuesday of $229,000 from an unanticipated surplus in the 2003-04 budget to its pension account.

The figure, according to Superintendent of Schools Evan Pitkoff, was drawn from various sources.

The superintendent explained that the school district had lower-than-expected electricity costs at Reed Intermediate School, and fewer individual professional training days for teachers and administrators, thus decreasing the cost of substitute teachers.

Also, the school district had to fund eight fewer family health insurance plans than it anticipated.

Other cost savings were realized through a successful effort to draw three previously out-placed special education students back into the district.

Applying the surplus money to the school system’s pension account should save the district far more than this initial expenditure to draw down the overall pension obligation.

Going as far back as “10 to 12 years,” explained Business Director Ron Bienkowski, approximately 20 noncertified district employees, including custodial and clerical staff, were “not informed” of their opportunity to join the district’s pension plan that they had been eligible for.

“Because we bought back past service, the liability went up to over $500,000,” Mr Bienkowski explained.

While the board’s 2003-04 pension budget was $159,948, because of the education budget’s $1.4 million reduction in the budget process, the unexpected end-of-year surplus led Mr Bienkowski to initially propose a $155,000 transfer to the pension account.

Board Secretary Andy Buzzi asked if Mr Bienkowski felt “comfortable” with the estimate, adding, “What if we went even higher?”

Mr Bienkowski responded that increasing the addition would in turn increase savings in the years ahead.

At approximately 11 pm, following an executive session, the board approved transferring an additional $74,000, bringing the total transfer to $229,000 — close to the entire unanticipated surplus from the 2003-04 budget — into the pension account.

“Future liability is based on what we should have been paying for past service and by making the current payment of $229,000, we reduce future liability down to about $310,000,” he said. “It’s a strategy to manage through reduction for future budget requirements.”

The result increases the education budget’s employee benefits account to $260,933.77.