Wages will be restored for Waterford workers

The Waterford Board of Education listened to a presentation regarding how the state of Michigan’s budget will end up impacting the Waterford School District, at its Thursday, Jan. 17.

The information was presented by Tom Wiseman, assistant superintendent of business and human resources, and William Holbrook, director of finance and budget.

The presentation stated that the district’s per-pupil foundation allowance reduction for the current school year is not as bad as originally estimated, as the district plans to take in $7,491 per pupil, which is up from the original estimation of $7,212, resulting in a net positive change of $3.15 million.

Wiseman and Holbrook also said that the state’s economy is slowly expanding and that because of the foundation allowance increase, all district employee groups will be receiving back the 2-percent reduction in wages that they originally agreed to at the beginning of the school year.

They added that 50 percent of the additional revenue will go towards employee total compensation while the other 50 percent will restore the district’s fund balance to 5 percent of expenditures and increases in the retirement rate (19.41 percent to 20.66 percent) from the original 2010-11 budget.

Wiseman and Holbrook are scheduled to present an information item for a revised 2010-11 budget at the next school board meeting tomorrow, Thursday, Feb. 4. The board is scheduled to vote on the amended budget on Feb. 17.

They also shared possible concerns about the budget, stating that a state revenue conference on Jan. 14 turned up information that the state’s general fund/general purpose fund is projected to have a deficit of at least $1 billion for 2011-12.

The state’s school aid fund is also projected to have a surplus of $523 million for 2010-11 and a $673 million surplus for 2011-12.

Wiseman and Holbrook said that if a proposed transfer of higher education costs from the general fund to the school aid fund occurs, then the surplus will be used up and there will be a deficit in 2012-13.