Officials Finding Common Ground When it Comes to Unexpended Ed Funds

The Town Council and the school board chairman have pledged to work together to get an account for unexpended education funds in place. 

The council on Tuesday decided that the most practical way to set it up would be as funds committed to education as part of the fund balance. 

It will now send a draft copy of an ordinance establishing the system to the Board of Education, collect input and then put a final draft on the floor for a vote. 
Council members even joked that education officials could "mark it up" similar to a test in school. 

One option was to take money left over at the end of the fiscal year and deposit it into a designated education account that the school board would have full control - and discretion - over. 

But town officials said that would count toward the minimum budget requirements imposed by state officials and potentially cause yearly budget numbers to inflate artificially.

A more logical - and practical - approach, council members said, would be to count the money as part of the fund balance. The catch would be that any expenditure would be paid for through the council. 

And the use of the money would likely be limited to non-recurring expenses, officials said. 

School Board Chairman Andy Powell said he is on board with that. He told the council he expected the money to be earmarked for non-recurring expenses and added he just wants to have money available to pay for "the next 20 feet of snow or the next 30 feel of frogs, or whatever is bestowed upon us next."