BOARD FINANCE COMMITTEE MINUTES

  AUGUST 14, 2006

 

Members of the Board Finance Committee met on Monday, August 14, 2006, at 7:15 p.m. in the Dining Room. Present were School Board Members Dr. Craig Haytmanek, Diane Rowe, Joseph Craig, Loretta Leeson, William Heske, Rosie Amato and Judith Dexter. Also present were Dr. Joseph A. Lewis, superintendent of schools; Stanley J. Majewski, Jr., assistant to the superintendent for finance and administration; Les Bear from Authur’s Lestrange, Scott Gilliland, Arif Fazil from D’Huy Engineering and members of the press.

 

COURTESY OF THE FLOOR – None requested.

 

Ultraviolet Filtration Systems – Mr. Gilliland and Mr. Fazil were present to discuss the new ultraviolet filtration systems being suggested for use at Freedom and Liberty pools.

Mr. Gilliland has surveyed facilities that have this system in place and reported several positive features attributed to use of this type of system, such as, elimination of Chloramines; a reduction in Chlorine usage; improved air quality and overall easier maintenance. A recommendation for the installation of this system will be placed on the August 21, 2006 Regular Board Agenda for approval.

BOND SERIES OF 1997 REFINANCING – Mr. Bear and Mr. Majewski discussed the opportunity to refinance the 1997 bond series and obtain at least $1,000,000 of proceeds from the transaction. The bond related proceeds would be deposited into the Capital Reserve Fund for capital improvements and eliminate the need to finance some future capital improvement projects.

 

Discussion followed and the committee agreed to proceed with the process of refinancing the 1997 bond series. A Resolution will be presented at the August 21, 2006 Regular Board Meeting for approval.

 

2007-2008 Budget Guidelines – Mr. Majewski informed the committee that as a result of Act 1 the timeline for the preparation of the 2007-2008 Budget must begin in September with the first distribution of the Proposed Budget to the Board of School Directors being December 6, 2006. Mr. Majewski and Dr. Lewis both stated that the tentative budget will be very tentative as the district has no way of accurately projecting increases in enrollment, assessment values, and staffing needs at such early dates. Trending and historical data presented during the 2006-2007 budget process will be used. Guidelines and procedures were distributed to the committee for review.

 

TAX STUDY COMMISSION APPLICANTS – Another one of the new state mandates as a result of Act 1 is the establishment of a Tax Study Commission. Mr. Majewski advertised for applicants and presented copies of all applications received to the committee for review. It now must be decided if a board member is to serve on this commission and who that would be.

 

The committee agreed that a board member should be on the commission and that it would be Director Koch. After discussion, it was agreed that all applicants would be asked to supply the committee with supplemental information which would include their occupation, age, household income, and a description of work experiences. Upon receipt of this information and distribution the applicants would then be ranked by the individual directors. The board has until September 14,2006, to appoint the Tax Commission.The committee asked for an analysis of Act 1 Tax Commission components. The administration will provide this information at a future date.

 

OPEN FORUM – Mrs. Leeson requested that the Curriculum Committee Meeting be held on its own due to the number of items needed to be discussed. It was decided that,

when appropriate, this would be the only meeting for the evening and any Human Resource items would be included in a mail out or rescheduled for another evening.

 

The meeting adjourned at 8:00 p.m.

 

Minutes prepared by                                                                                     

                                    Confidential Secretary to the Assistant Superintendent for

                                    Finance and Administration