Community Corner

Up to $2.9M School Surplus Goes to Capital Reserve

Surplus from 2011-12 school year to help pay for future capital improvements.

The capital reserve account for the will soon get an influx of cash.

According to Business Administrator Peter Daquila, hundreds of thousands of dollars was budgeted into the district's 2011-12 budget that were not spent. The total surplus amount is not yet known, but the Board of Education already voted to transfer the funds to the capital reserve account.

Daquila said he anticipates the district will have a surplus of up to $2,900,000 in "unanticipated excess current year revenue and/or unexpected appropriations" when the final close-out of accounts is performed.

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"The exact amount will not be available for a few weeks, since the district has just started the financial closing process [for the 2011-12 school year]," Daquila said.

The district's auditors will review and approve the district's financial records for the previous year in September, as they do each year. When they do and the surplus amount is finalized, that credit will be transferred into the capital reserve account.

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Currently, Daquila said, there is about $950,000 in the capital reserve. The district also has $267,000 from rewarded in July 2011. The remainder of that money, $250,000, at .

"The district has a receivable from the Schools Construction Authority of $400,000 for their share of projects we completed last summer," particularly classroom conversion at and roofing improvements at and .

The district also voted to move $200,000 out of the capital reserve budget to help pay for at all six Chatham schools.

Daquila recommended the board move the funds to capital reserves as an investment. "Under the current funding, this is the best way for the district to build the capital reserve for future projects," Daquila said.

The funds, Daquila said, can help the district pay for future projects, which may help when the time comes for another school expansion or larger improvement project. "The voters are contributing annually towards putting away capital money as a [savings] so that the district has the money to use at a later date, rather than using that nasty word, 'referendum,'" Daquila said.


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