WNWSU Audit Complete;

Revenues Cover Deficit

By Chris Costanzo

According to Windsor Northwest Supervisory Union (WNWSU) Supt. Tim Mock, the official audit of the union’s finances was completed Tuesday, Jan. 16. The good news is that the expected deficit, which Mock had predicted to be $200,000 is actually around $92,000.

Further good news is that revenues will be higher than expected. The revenues will cover all of the deficit and even slightly reduce the assessment that the WNWSU will levy on its school districts (Bethel, Granville, Hancock, Pittsfield, Rochester, Stockbridge).

The new budget estimate for the WNWSU is about $485,600; up 2.5% from the previous year. The special education budget, unchanged after the audit, will be $2,255,000; up 6.3%.

The hefty revenues into the union come in great part from two new sources. The first is the absorption back into the WNWSU of eight special education students who had been at the Vermont Achievement Center in Rutland at a cost of $36,000 a student per year. These students are now either back in the regular schools or else at the Pittsfield Academy, which is run by the union.

Another source of increased revenues is the union’s capability for transporting its own special education students at reduced cost with a new bus that it purchased through grant funding. This also allows the WNWSU to transport special education students in other towns, thereby generating revenue.

Despite the WNWSU ability to absorb its budget deficit, Mock told The Herald that he recognizes that if there hadn’t been a deficit, then much of the increased revenue would have gone to reduce the union’s annual assessments on its six school districts.

As those who have been following union activities these past few years well know, its accounting system was in shambles when Mock became superintendent in 2004. In fact, until just now, the staff was unable to close the books at the end of recent fiscal years to allow for formal audits that are mandated every year. Without such audits, the state froze certain state revenues to the union.

"Fortunately, the department of education was aware of the mess we inherited and worked with us to help resolve the situation," Mock said. 

Mock also told The Herald that he takes ultimate responsibility for not resolving the situation sooner.

"I had business managers, but I myself lacked the accounting expertise and the time to oversee the process as closely as I should have," he said.

Mock said he had intimations that once an audit was completed there might be a deficit, and he worked closely with special education coordinator Deb Matthews to create ways to generate revenues to offset the deficits when they became known.

"We now have protocols in place for closer budgeting oversight," Mock said. At the moment, he personally double checks all aspects of union budgeting every month, and the union has retained Dick Stewart, an educational administrator with considerable budgeting experience to help.

Asked if the WNWSU might get along without a business manager at all, Mock replied, "No way. There is simply too much work to be done, so we need to hire someone. But we’re now in a much better position to ensure sound and periodic budgeting from here on in."

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