Schools
School Board Votes to Return $3M of Budget to County
The move came as a result of a request by the county executive.
The Harford County Board of Education unanimously voted Monday to return nearly $3 million of its fiscal year 2011 general fund to the county—less than half of what County Executive David Craig requested.
Craig had asked departments across Harford to return 3 percent of their funds, but the assistant superintendent of business services, James Jewell, said returning the full $6.24 million of the $214 million budget would subject the Board of Education to state penalties for not maintaining a “legally-mandated maintenance of effort.” The fine could exceed $7 million, he said.
The $3 million being returned will come from a one-time revenue for Medicare Part D reimbursement, utility savings of about $500,000, salary savings of about $200,000 and more than $1.4 million in health insurance savings due to plan changes and lower enrollment than was projected, Jewell said.
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The money will be taken out of the June distribution of funds.
“At least it doesn’t affect the cash flow up until June,” Jewell said.
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Board of Education President Mark Wolkow said it was a tough but sensible decision.
“Not always easy. Never easy to give money back, especially when we have so many needs throughout the system,” he said. “But the county is in a difficult financial situation right now and we’ve been asked to play a part in [relieving] that. … This becomes virtually a necessity.”
