With co-chair Daniel Schultz presiding, the Financial Affairs meeting was conducted in a Zoom seminar room, which allowed the public access to view the meeting and submit questions about the presentation in real-time. Business manager Ms. Cara Michaels presented three agenda items: COVID-19 financial impact; 2019-20 budget status; and 2020-21 budget update. Michaels provided a detailed overview of COVID-19’s financial impact to CSD’s current and future budget. The biggest impact school districts will face is revenues, however, too many unknowns regarding the economy exist to have definitive details. Michaels reported she anticipates only a slight impact on current revenues, as the majority have been collected or realized. However, the 2020-21 budget stands to have a revenue reduction of greater than $1.3 million, which doesn’t include any reduction in real estate tax revenue. She also reported some savings realized in 2019-20 expenditure line items, but it was too soon to determine the exact amount. With regard to Act 13 of 2020, Michaels reported districts are required to meet certain obligations for the 2019-20 school year, the largest being salary and benefits. All part- and full-time employees are receiving their regular wages for the remainder of the year.

Ms. Michaels provided an update on the 2019-20 budget, which illustrated CSD has collected or realized 84.52 percent of its revenues and has expended 68.45 percent of its expenditures. She reported CSD will take the holiday premium, which is a one-time savings built into the 2019-20 budget. The premium enables CSD to utilize its reserve SEPAST funds to pay one month of health care costs.

To close the meeting, Michaels indicated she, the finance chairs and superintendent will review the 2020-21 budget timeline to determine if additional meetings need to be scheduled to adopt the budget.

The next Financial Affairs Committee meeting will be held on Tuesday, May 5, immediately following the Facilities Committee meeting.