From the beginning, the merger of the Center Area and Monaca school districts was supposed to save money.
It had better.
Both districts face a combined revenue drop of about $1.2 million and a deficit of $2.6 million in initial budget figures offered by the two superintendents last Thursday.
Much of that red ink comes because Center Area's real estate tax rates will have to be cut by at least 2.8 mills for the district to have a uniform rate. Center Area also comprises Potter.
But Superintendents Dan Matsook, of Center Area, and Mike Thomas, of Monaca, noted that the numbers were preliminary, and that they did not include one of the major potential savings promised in the merger: staff cuts.
Talks on that front started almost immediately; the board went into a closed-door executive session at the end of the public meeting to go over staffing plans.
For now, the goal is to be sure the new district can operate at a 47.4-mill tax rate, which would represent the maximum allowable increase from Monaca's current 45-mill rate.
The state sets an index for each school district each year, and any tax hike beyond that index requires voter approval. Boards wishing to avoid such a referendum have to pass a resolution each January committing to stay within the set limit.
The two boards will vote on such resolutions at their separate meetings tonight.
This process is especially tricky for the merging districts because 47.4 mills is a cut in Center, which has a property tax rate of 50.2 mills. And it's compounded by the fact that a mill in larger, retail-rich Center is worth about $225,000 compared to $50,000 in Monaca.
Nevertheless, the superintendents were comfortable with a 47.4-mill limit.
"I feel confident that we can keep the raises below the limit," Dr. Matsook said. "We're presenting a worst-case scenario because this is January." School budgets don't have to be complete until June 30. The district's fiscal year is July 1 to June 30, 2010.
"Any time any organization budgets, they tend to understate revenues and overstate expenditures," Dr. Thomas said.
A number of board members were taken aback by the numbers, however, because they were expecting a 5.2-mill tax cut in Center to match rates without raising Monaca's taxes.
"We always said in our estimates that Monaca would not have a tax increase," Monaca board President Mike Halama said. "Why would we pass a resolution saying we're not going to raise taxes above that level when we're not going to raise them at all?"
Dr. Thomas said it is likely that additional cuts will lower the tax amount, and that additional cuts will be possible in the 2010-11 school year, when the middle schools and high schools will be consolidated. The districts will merge in July, but only the elementary grades will be consolidated next school year.
"We anticipate that when we get to the second part of the merger, some of these costs will be able to be massaged out," Dr. Thomas said.
The combined boards will begin budget meetings later this month.
Staff cuts have long been expected as part of that budget; the very idea is that the two small and shrinking districts can operate more efficiently as one. Details on how many positions might be cut and from which areas, though, are being kept quiet out of fear that individuals could be identified who might lose their jobs.
Whether that is allowed under the state Open Meetings Act, however, is not clear. The law allows boards to meet in private sessions to discuss "the employment, appointment, termination of employment, terms and conditions of employment, evaluation of performance, promotion or disciplining of any specific prospective public officer or employee or current public officer or employee ... ."
From the description given in public, the staffing plan sounded fairly general, discussing redundant positions among the staff of the two districts rather than the job performance or reasons for dismissal of any specific employee.
Center Area solicitor Albert Maiello said he believed the law would include furloughs, and that the specificity question was satisfied by the fact that individuals might be identified as up for furlough based on the information.
An employee said later that there would be a "mass exodus" if people knew who was up for furlough.
In general, though, staff members have been highly supportive of the merger, and several have publicly said they would support it even if they lost their jobs.
First Published: January 15, 2009, 10:00 a.m.
