MANSFIELD, Ohio – The Mansfield City School District Financial Planning and Supervision Commission met for their regular monthly meeting on Wednesday. Members of the commission voted to approve ‘directives to the treasurer’ because of numerical accuracy issues, but also noted that the district’s finances are currently on target with this year’s budget.
“We have had some problems since we’ve been in fiscal emergency with accuracy related to the forecast,” said Paul Marshall, chairperson of the commission. “Most recently, I think we were all surprised when we were given a five-year forecast that was predicted to drop about $2 million in property taxes.
“What we are trying to do with this resolution is to direct the treasurer to work with [the commission] and to come out with, frankly, better numbers.”
The school district was declared to be in fiscal emergency by the state in 2013 and the financial commission is tasked with helping to get the district’s finances in order.
Rosetta L. Stephens, the districts’ treasurer, previously presented the financial commission members with a five-year forecast with a nearly $1.4 million deficit, which would have meant severe cuts and layoffs, Marshall said. But, with the help of Ohio Department of Education Fiscal Consultant Barb Bechtel and Ohio State Auditor’s Assistant Laura Brown, errors were found and a revised five-year forecast was approved at the commission’s Nov. 13 meeting.
The revised forecast projects a $566,509 cash balance for the district of in fiscal year 2015 and a $3.2 million balance by 2018. These findings also helped to restore three teaching positions to the district.
“It’s very difficult for us to do our work when the estimates we’re given are demonstratively incorrect,” Marshall said.
Marshall stressed the importance of accuracy.
“The five-year forecast becomes especially significant for a district in fiscal emergency because we have to rely on these numbers as we look forward to what the district is going to do with its personnel, so we absolutely need accurate numbers in order to fulfil our statutory obligations.”
If a corrected forecast had not been generated, Marshall repeated, the district would have had to implement immediate layoffs. “Those five-year forecasts do have real implications,” he said.
“If we had approved [the previous forecast], I would argue that we were derelict in our fiscal responsibility as fiduciaries,” Marshall said. “It is a critical document for us. This is not just some report that you just fill out, file it some place and forget about it. This is a living, breathing, working document that has real-world implications.”
In other news, Bechtel gave a monthly monitoring report where she pointed out the current comparative actual cash flow versus the estimate, which both totaled $21,935,973.
Bechtel also noted the number of certified district employees dropped from 335 in 2013 to 287 people currently employed by the district.
“There’s where our savings should come in this year and get us back on track with spending,” she said. “Everything else seems to be going ok.”
Sherman Elementary School Principal Steven Rizzo addressed the commission, on behalf of the staff, students and families of the school, to thank them and Superintendent Brian Garverick for their diligence with the revised financial forecast, which enabled two additional staff members to be hired. The teachers came back to school after Thanksgiving break, Rizzo said.
“The impact is noticeable in the classroom with being able to serve students in a more reasonable number in those rooms,” he said. “I really want to thank you for making that happen.”
The next MCS Financial Commission meeting will be at 4 p.m. Jan. 22 at the board of education office at 856 W. Cook Road.
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“Those five-year forecasts do have real implications,” said Chairperson Paul Marshall, “If we had approved [the previous forecast], I would argue that we were derelict in our fiscal responsibility as fiduciaries. It is a critical document for us. This is not just some report that you just fill out, file it some place and forget about it.”
