Kirk: Delayed city budget will bring big cuts

Re: Kirk: Delayed city budget will bring big cuts

feeds@yuku.com (Insider2004) — Mon, 12 May 2008 15:32:46 GMT

The Mayor has to submit the School Committee's spending request to the City Council and the Council is the one that decides whether or not to borrow the money on the school's behalf.

Re: Kirk: Delayed city budget will bring big cuts

feeds@yuku.com (tyu12) — Mon, 12 May 2008 15:29:44 GMT

OldBig3 wrote:
Insider is correct -- also only 20 year borrowing is allowable for school projects unless the borrowing is in conjunction with the newly created Massachusetts School Building Finance Authority which allows for 25 year borrowing. The Authority has already denied Gloucester Public Schools an opportunity to borrow under them until Gloucester gets their act together with a long range plan.

So what...

Re: Kirk: Delayed city budget will bring big cuts

feeds@yuku.com (OldBig3) — Mon, 12 May 2008 14:27:55 GMT

Insider is correct -- also only 20 year borrowing is allowable for school projects unless the borrowing is in conjunction with the newly created Massachusetts School Building Finance Authority which allows for 25 year borrowing. The Authority has already denied Gloucester Public Schools an opportunity to borrow under them until Gloucester gets their act together with a long range plan.

Re: Kirk: Delayed city budget will bring big cuts

feeds@yuku.com (Insider2004) — Mon, 12 May 2008 11:40:53 GMT

State municipal finance laws dictate that schools can not borrow money, only municipalities. Therefore the debt service comes out of the general fund.

Re: Kirk: Delayed city budget will bring big cuts

feeds@yuku.com (Par Putt) — Mon, 12 May 2008 11:14:00 GMT

It's only a matter of time before the state steps in and declares that students can not be taught in modulars, then what?

Re: Kirk: Delayed city budget will bring big cuts

feeds@yuku.com (OldBig3) — Mon, 12 May 2008 08:31:25 GMT

The School Committee submitted a proposed FY 09 budget that was $1.5M higher than last year as to what they call a "level service" budget. The Mayor has only promised $1.0M additional funding, therefore the School Committee will have to go back to the drawing board and cut back on the $1.5M to get to $1.0M. It seems (from reading the document on line) that they have factored in a 2% increase for Contracts (up from a previous budget draft of 1%). There has been no announcement that...

Re: Kirk: Delayed city budget will bring big cuts

feeds@yuku.com (tyu12) — Sun, 11 May 2008 19:47:06 GMT

Insider2004 wrote:
Kirk has offered the schools $1 million more than last year...about 3% more than last year.

The School Committee is asking for $1.6 million more than last year.

Kirk says she will cut $500,000 from the school budget.

And to answer the question, the debt service on the modulars is a 20 year loan which will come out of the City budget (not the school budget) and be...

Re: Kirk: Delayed city budget will bring big cuts

feeds@yuku.com (Insider2004) — Sun, 11 May 2008 19:39:47 GMT

Kirk has offered the schools $1 million more than last year...about 3% more than last year.

The School Committee is asking for $1.6 million more than last year.

Kirk says she will cut $500,000 from the school budget.

And to answer the question, the debt service on the modulars is a 20 year loan which will come out of the City budget (not the school budget) and be roughly $225,000/year.

Re: Kirk: Delayed city budget will bring big cuts

feeds@yuku.com (flounda) — Sun, 11 May 2008 19:14:54 GMT

Did I read correctly that a 2% increase in wages is built into the school budget?

Re: Kirk: Delayed city budget will bring big cuts

feeds@yuku.com (o Realist o) — Sun, 11 May 2008 19:01:02 GMT

Lucky One - here's link to schools' website....much information available. Depends on how deeply you want to investigate...

http://www.gloucesterschools.com/

Re: Kirk: Delayed city budget will bring big cuts

feeds@yuku.com (Lucky One) — Sun, 11 May 2008 16:11:21 GMT

"open" is the question is thebusiness truly open to the public?

Re: Kirk: Delayed city budget will bring big cuts

feeds@yuku.com (o Realist o) — Sun, 11 May 2008 15:55:36 GMT

No one knows what goes on up there except for them. ~ ~ Lucky One

Certain about that?

School "business" is "open" to the public, in principle - budget line items, school committee minutes etc. The rest of the story? Shrouded, I suspect...

Re: Kirk: Delayed city budget will bring big cuts

feeds@yuku.com (Willard J Clinton) — Sun, 11 May 2008 15:55:22 GMT

>>>The schools are like a cartel. No one knows what goes on up there except for them. Any other city business is opne to the public, especially on here, but everyone has the same questions when it comes to the schools.

Who knows, but someone is paying and some are used and being refurbished etc....<<< Lucky One

The word "cartel" is close, but the schools are more accurately a MONOPOLY that has...

Re: Kirk: Delayed city budget will bring big cuts

feeds@yuku.com (Lucky One) — Sun, 11 May 2008 14:21:20 GMT

The schools are like a cartel. No one knows what goes on up there except for them. Any other city business is opne to the public, especially on here, but everyone has the same questions when it comes to the schools.
Who knows, but someone is paying and some are used and being refurbished etc....

Re: Kirk: Delayed city budget will bring big cuts

feeds@yuku.com (tyu12) — Sun, 11 May 2008 13:01:09 GMT

Lucky One wrote:
The last I heard, the scholls were goig to get $1.5 million so the cutof $500K still leaves them with an increase of a million and that doesn't count the millions wasted on the modular classrooms and the possible revenue production of the beach concessions that will go into the school coffers.

that's the way that i took it also. last year they took money from all city dept to...

Re: Kirk: Delayed city budget will bring big cuts

feeds@yuku.com (NightStalker) — Sat, 10 May 2008 16:06:45 GMT
they'll probably lose $$$ on the beach concessions. I'll bet that whatever they "make" this year will be less than the $70k they could have had by doing nothing.

Re: Kirk: Delayed city budget will bring big cuts

feeds@yuku.com (Lucky One) — Sat, 10 May 2008 13:56:15 GMT
The last I heard, the scholls were goig to get $1.5 million so the cutof $500K still leaves them with an increase of a million and that doesn't count the millions wasted on the modular classrooms and the possible revenue production of the beach concessions that will go into the school coffers.

Re: Kirk: Delayed city budget will bring big cuts

feeds@yuku.com (tyu12) — Sat, 10 May 2008 13:42:56 GMT

drinkycrow wrote:

tyu12 wrote:

Lucky One wrote:
The School Department is a different story tyu dontcha know that?

I forgot cuts don't apply to schools that budget has only increased over the...

Re: Kirk: Delayed city budget will bring big cuts

feeds@yuku.com (drinkycrow) — Sat, 10 May 2008 12:49:34 GMT

tyu12 wrote:

Lucky One wrote:
The School Department is a different story tyu dontcha know that?

I forgot cuts don't apply to schools that budget has only increased over the years.

"Kirk said she intends to cut $500,000 from the School Committee's proposed budget, which includes $1 million in new spending to...

Re: Kirk: Delayed city budget will bring big cuts

feeds@yuku.com (gulls11) — Sat, 10 May 2008 12:34:42 GMT
And the sacred cow school department only gets fatter and more arrogant as time goes by....................

Kirk: Delayed city budget will bring big cuts

feeds@yuku.com (Insider2004) — Thu, 08 May 2008 10:05:46 GMT

The Gloucester Daily Times published this article today. I'm posting it for discussion purposes only.

Kirk: Delayed city budget will bring big cuts
By Richard Gaines
Staff writer

Mayor Carolyn Kirk has notified City Council that the municipal budget she is preparing will be much more than a day late - and more than a few dollars short.