CITY SCHOOLS: A plan to invest in fiscal future
As area schools begin to look ahead to May with budgeting plans for the 2025-26 year, Dunkirk Superintendent Michael Mansfield understands the importance of the bottom line. At last week’s school board meeting, the district leader called for additional hires for the accounting office.
“With the capital project coming on board, negotiations are coming up with the teachers association, (and) we have some retirements coming up in the office area, we really feel it’s time we invest in a business administrator,” he said.
This year, Dunkirk’s budget was nearly $60 million. Add in the district’s approved capital project of $83 million in the fall and you’re talking some big taxpayer dollars.
Mansfield, in looking to next year, also is eyeing additional clerical support. “Right now, if anything happens to anyone in that office, we have no backup — and we have people that are approaching retirement age. So we put in here a clerical person as well, to start cross training the staff and to prepare for these departures that we anticipate are coming in the next year or two.”
School budgets do not operate like their municipal counterparts. Most of the revenues to districts come in the form of state aid. Property taxes are driving city and town proposals — and will likely be increasing due to the current fiscal states of both the city of Dunkirk and village of Fredonia.
Strong financial support is important to running taxpayer-funded entities. Unfortunately, troubled situations in the north county make that reality all too clear.