CLEARFIELD – On Monday night, the Clearfield County Career and Technology Center’s Joint Operating Committee revisited its 2010-11 general fund budget. They agreed unanimously on a budget with an increase that had been cut by more than half since early April.
“It’s the best budget that we’ve had in years,” said Lois Richards, executive director. She noted they were able to cut the budget by nearly $65,000 over the past month.
Richards said the current budget calls for $2,713,606 in total expenditures. As a result, she said they reduced the potential of a 4.533 percent increase to just 2.097 percent for the upcoming year.
According to Richards, they saw health care drop from 10 to 7 percent. She said it turned into a savings in the amount of $10,000. She also said $16,000 was eliminated from the electrical program for solar power equipment.
She said they haven’t yet received the amount of the Perkins grant for the next year. But she felt the amount would cover the expense of the solar equipment for the electrical program.
“It’s a little risky, but I feel pretty good,” she said, adding they’d probably receive those figures later this month.
Richards said they experienced a “slight” savings in electric. She said they were advised by Premier Power Solutions, LLC to budget for a 15 percent increase for a 12-month period.
Richards said they have based the budget on enrollment figures that are as of May 4 for the 2010-11 year. She said it was the most recent data available. She indicated they have 404 students enrolled from the member schools.
She said they’ve requested the member districts’ superintendents to place the school’s budget on their agendas for the next voting meeting. She said they need 36 of 54 votes in order for the budget to receive its final approval.
According to a prior GantDaily report, Kathie Pearcy, business manager, presented the budget for review on April 12. When she first entered the figures, Pearcy said the budget called for a 10 percent increase.
At that meeting, she indicated they had worked to reduce the hike to less than 5 percent. She said they had presented it to the member districts’ superintendents and business managers. She said they’d be taking their suggestions and incorporating them into a revised budget.
“We don’t ask for anything that we don’t need. There are not too many bells and whistles,” she said then. “We consider five years of data. If we don’t use it, we make cuts even if it’s to save $50.”
