Good news on Westmont budget comes with caution on pensions

April 09--JOHNSTOWN -- Westmont Hilltop schools can continue to offer quality education without raising taxes or cutting jobs, but there may be pain in the future, new business manager Donald Irwin said.

Irwin presented the administration's budget proposal to Westmont Hilltop school board on Monday, painstakingly detailing his projections, with analysis on statewide trends.

Total expenses are projected to be $20,556,260, with revenues expected to reach $20,754,758, Irwin said, noting that it leaves a $198,498 cushion.

"This is the first brush with the budget,"?Irwin said. "We will be able to present a good educational experience next year with these numbers."

Irwin's detailed draft budget showed instruction makes up 60 percent of the cost, with administration and support staff accounting for another 7 percent.

"That means 67 cents of every dollar is spent on people," Irwin said.

His breakdown proposes spending $3,994,392 for instruction at the elementary school, $3,961,025 at the middle school and $4,062,662 at the high school.

Additional areas include administration, pupil support, maintenance, technical education, athletics and the school board expenses.

Local taxes will provide $10,938,279. State funding adds $7,134,299 and federal programs provide $3,607,070.

Board member William Trevorrow thanked Irwin for his attention to detail.

"The board's goal is to set expectations and provide resources to meet those expectations,"?Trevorrow said, adding that the draft budget's meticulous breakdown will help the board meet its goal.

Irwin's proposal was distributed to board members in a binder with tabs dividing sections for different subjects and views.

In the section identifying instructional costs, for example, a spending breakdown for the elementary program included 131 line items ranging from $30 for library staff vision insurance to $400,712 for first grade staffing salaries.

Irwin noted that Westmont has taken pride in its efficiency, as illustrated by its ranking 473rd out of 500 district in the average amount spent on each student. But a closer look shows the actual instructional spending puts Westmont up to 164th in the state, he said.

"We are not as lean as we could be there," he said.

A bigger concern for Westmont and all other school districts in the state is the mandated contribution to the Public School Employees' Retirement System. The pension fund amount required from the districts has has been rising steeply for the past few years, with no end in sight.

The report presented Monday shows that in the 2001-2002 school year, barely 1 percent of salary and benefit costs went to the pension program. This year, it is up to just less than 17 percent, and projected to top 30 percent by 2017-2018.

The additional expense will evaporate this year's surplus and create a deficit, Irwin said.

"Unless we become more efficient, we will be in excess of $700,000 upside down in 2017-18," Irwin said.

Randy Griffith is a reporter for The Tribune-Democrat. Follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/photogriffer57.

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