The Salisbury Township School District Board of Directors held an operations and finance committee meeting Feb. 5 to discuss ongoing capital projects, discuss the fund balance and the 2025-2026 budget.

The meeting began with concerned citizen Dennis Entle, who raised the issue of the possibility of a tax increase with $1.8 million in budget surplus. He acknowledged the difficulties in forecasting a budget and agreed with cost effective measures such as paying off interest on bonds but he reiterated his concern not only for himself as a taxpayer but for the community at large.

During the operations committee portion of the meeting Director of Facilities Bill Brackett reviewed the results of the bids received for the Salisbury Middle School fire alarm replacement project. Four qualified contractors submitted bids and after evaluating each bid package, Brackett recommended Albarell Electric, Inc at a total cost of $197,464. He requested permission from the board to move forward in the process by giving Albarell the go-ahead to begin ordering supplies so the project is ready to begin this summer. Formal approval is expected at the next regular school board meeting.

Brackett updated the board on the progress of the painting project at the middle school which is being completed by one maintenance worker throughout the winter months. One classroom takes approximately 3-4 days to paint and there are about 12 classrooms yet to be completed.

Chief Financial Officer Dawn Nickischer led the finance committee discussion centering on two spreadsheets depicting a detailed breakdown of both revenue and expenses in the 2023-2024 budget.

The revenue spreadsheet highlighted the discrepancy between the amount of earned interest budgeted for and the actual net earnings which amounted to $1.3 million in unexpected earnings. She expects interest earnings will remain high and adjustments will be made in budgeting for next year.

Director Joseph Gaither asked how much interest was earned from the recent sale of district property and whether it would make sense to use the interest earned on this money to fund projects without touching the principal.

Nickischer reported the interest netted from the sale of land amounted to $21,862 but it was not used for projects like the library configuration because proceeds from a recent bond must be spent within five years. The money from the land sale can continue to grow until there is a need to use it.

The expenditure spreadsheet detailed specific areas where she explained in detail how totals came in under or over budget. All in all, it showed a net increase over budget of $191,458.

One area of concern prompted Director Thomas Spinner to ask for clarification on the purchased professional services and technology services category that came in $751,681 over budget. Nickischer explained $408,000 was for legal services and attorney fees from King, Spry, Herman, Freund & Faul, LLC. due to two contract negotiations and other legal issues.

Nickischer provided an update on the progress being made on the 2025-2026 budget. She explained the process of compiling data and related she will have forecasting information to the board by May.

The timing of the release of forecasting information did not sit well with several board members. Spinner noted with the software available, one should be able to see spending trends from past years and use that information to decide whether taxes need to be raised and by how much. He implied the software does much of the calculating so it should be available before May.

He expressed his frustration by saying, “this is information that you need when you are budgeting. We are talking about getting forecast information in May and we have to vote for the final budget in June.” He went on to say while he appreciates all the work Nickischer is doing, he is finding it very frustrating.

At this point Superintendent Lynn Fuini-Hetten interjected by saying she did not realize the board expected the information by February. She was under the impression it was a district goal to have it completed by the end of the school year.

She went on to say she has made it clear to the board the challenges the business office has faced and if it was clear the information was needed in January they would have worked to have it completed by then.

Also frustrated with the timing was Director Laura McKelvey who stated, “I personally will not approve a budget that doesn’t have projections and a forecast to back it up. I need to be responsible with our money and I can’t do that if I am not seeing the forecasts.”

Director Ian Riccaboni acknowledged the opportunity the district has with the increased interest available to use and posited that having the forecast in April will allow the board to look at what can be accomplished as far as capital projects on the master facilities plan.

At the will of the board, administrators agreed the business office will work to have forecast projections available by April so the board can make informed decisions as they relate to the final 2025-2026 budget in June.

The next meeting of the operations and finance committee will be held 7 p.m. March 5. All meetings are held in the administration building, 1140 Salisbury Road, Allentown.