This is the comment that business manager Melissa Fortuna supplied to the LR Post. Things with () are notes made by the Post.
The Business office supplied detailed budget information for Central office costs, including the Office of the Superintendent, to all three boards. This information has also been published on page 25-26 of the OCSU Annual report.(The OCSU annual report that is for FY26 hasn’t been released yet) This report has been available to the public via the OCSU website.
The “Superintendent-2320” line on the EMS budget is the entire Central Office Assessment which includes the following: Board of Ed Services, Fiscal Services, Office of the Superintendent and HR (aka Personnel Services). Detail of all these departments can also be found on the OCSU Annual Report. Something that I think is often misinterpreted is that all OCSU expenses are part of the SU budget and will not be listed in detail on the LRUEMSD or the LRUHS districts budgets. Both districts have a single line item for each assessment and the breakdown of those elements are found in the OCSU budget (in the OCSU Annual Report) because that is where those expenses are incurred.
The actual increase for the Office of the Superintendent (contained in the OCSU budget) was approximately $48K from FY24 – 26
The amount YOU are referencing, the EMS portion of the Central Office Assessment, increased $503K from FY24-25.
The TOTAL Central office assessment (LR & EMS) increased $755K from FY24-FY25
This is due to two things:
1. A $508K Increase in the Central office TOTAL Budget form FY24-FY25
2. Central Office budgeted/anticipated $300K of revenue in FY24 and only $50K of revenue in FY25 due to the conclusion of ESSER Grants. This deduction in revenue increased the overall assessment to both districts.
There are 3 major drivers for the $508K increase to the Central Office Budget:
1. Technology Services ($197K/ 39% of increase)
2. Salaries ($176K/ 34% of increase)
3. Health Insurance ($61K/ 12% of increase)
TOTAL = $434K/ 85% of $508K increase
1. TECHNOLOGY SERVICES:
One of the major drivers of this cost increase was a reallocation of OCSU’s portion of Tech services. In FY24 the total budget for Tech was $114K spread across these 4 departments:
| CENTRAL OFFICE | $58,323.00 |
| CURRICULUM/MENTORING | $35,451.00 |
| PREK/EEE ASSESSMENT | $2,287.00 |
| STUDENT SUPPORT SERVICES | $18,298.00 |
| TOTAL | $114,359.00 |
In FY25 the entirety of the tech budget was moved to the CENTRAL OFFICE line so the budget looked like this:
| CENTRAL OFFICE | $238,423.00 |
| CURRICULUM/MENTORING | $0.00 |
| PREK/EEE ASSESSMENT | $0.00 |
| STUDENT SUPPORT SERVICES | $0.00 |
| TOTAL | $238,423.00 |
There was an overall tech increase of $124K in FY25 for Tech for all of those departments but because it was moved to the Central Office line item it looks like an increase of $180K on that one line. There was an additional Tech Services increase of $16,689 for FY26.
2. SALARIES
There was a $118K increase in Salaries in FY25 for Central Office and an additional $57K for FY26. The breakdown below shows estimated annual salaries for the last three years, what was budgeted, and what was actually reported.
A few things to note:
- FY24 was under-budgeted @$493K, actual reported was $584K (difference of $90K). My understanding is that salary negotiations occurred AFTER the budget was approved for FY24 so that line ran a deficit of $90K. That is making up 76% of the $118K increase, the other portion of the increase is made up of the 5% standard salary increase at the end of the FY.
- The $57K increase in FY25 is an approximate 9% increase. This is comprised of the standard 5% increase and the Business Office allowed for additional funds for 3 Contractors who filled in part time during a transitional staffing period. You will also find some notes regarding individual positions below that effected what was budgeted vs reported.
| ESTIMATED ANNUAL SALARIES CENTRAL OFFICE |
||||||
| POSITION | DEPARTMENT | FY23 | FY24 | FY25 | FY26 | NOTES |
| Staff Accountant (.85 FTE) | Fiscal Services | $52,326.00 | $66,816.00 | $70,156.80 | $60,342.45 | Converted to .85 FTE in FY25 |
| Business Manager | Fiscal Services | $88,000.00 | $93,943.00 | $100,000.00 | $105,000.00 | New Hire in FY25 – Only $77K budgeted for FY25 (partial year) |
| Foodservice Coordinator/AR Assistant (.37 FTE) | Fiscal Services | $14,862.00 | $17,700.00 | $21,471.00 | $22,544.55 | New Hire in FY25 |
| Payroll Assistant | Fiscal Services | $52,765.71 | $55,404.00 | $58,631.00 | $61,562.55 | 6 month vacancy in FY23 but this was the budgeted amount |
| AP Assistant | Fiscal Services | $37,778.00 | $50,700.00 | $57,469.00 | $60,342.45 | |
| Grants Coordinator (.5 FTE) | Fiscal Services | $4,593.00 | $0.00 | $22,230.00 | $23,000.00 | Funded by ESSER in FY24/partially esser funded FY23. Currently .5 FTE Fiscal Services/.5 FTE Curriculum |
| Superintendant | Office of the Superintendant | $137,800.00 | $148,824.00 | $156,265.00 | $164,078.00 | |
| Administrative Assistant to the Superintendant | Office of the Superintendant | $54,288.00 | $76,984.00 | $80,367.00 | $84,385.35 | |
| Board Salaries | Board of Education Services | $1,500.00 | $2,000.00 | $2,000.00 | $2,000.00 | |
| Human Resources Coordinator | Personnel Services | $53,116.00 | $64,485.00 | $62,640.00 | $65,772.00 | New Hire in FY25/6 mo vacancy in FY23 |
| TOTAL ESTIMATED SALARIES | $497,028.71 | $576,856.00 | $631,229.80 | $649,027.35 | ||
| TOTAL BUDGETED | $457,754.00 | $493,461.00 | $611,946.00 | $669,704.00 | ||
| TOTAL ACTUAL | $437,708.00 | $584,044.00 | n/a | n/a | ||
3. HEALTH INSURANCE
Health Insurance increased $29K in FY25 and $14K in FY26. This is a cost that is completely out of our control, the state negotiates the health insurance rates and we have to budget accordingly.
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As I stated earlier these 3 components account for $434K of the $508K Central Office BUDGET increase, keep in mind this is NOT the EMS Central office Assessment increase, this is the the budget detail for Central Office accounted for under the SU. The line items below will show you the detailed breakdown of the remaining $70K.
| Central Office ITEM DESCRIPTION |
FY25 VARIANCE |
FY26 VARIANCE |
TOTAL VARIANCE OVER 2 YEARS |
% OF OVERALL INCREASE |
| Advertising | $125.00 | -$150.00 | -$25.00 | 0.00% |
| Books/Periodicals | $0.00 | -$200.00 | -$200.00 | -0.04% |
| Childcare Contribution | $0.00 | $3,467.12 | $3,467.12 | 0.68% |
| Communications | $1,100.00 | $0.00 | $1,100.00 | 0.22% |
| Computer Equipment | $31,818.00 | -$23,560.00 | $8,258.00 | 1.62% |
| Computer Software-Subscription | $21,309.00 | -$18,659.00 | $2,650.00 | 0.52% |
| Conference | $2,500.00 | -$1,500.00 | $1,000.00 | 0.20% |
| Dental Insurance | -$220.00 | $0.00 | -$220.00 | -0.04% |
| Disability Insurance | $61.00 | $103.47 | $164.47 | 0.03% |
| Dues and Fees | -$300.00 | $0.00 | -$300.00 | -0.06% |
| Electricity | $50.00 | -$2,850.00 | -$2,800.00 | -0.55% |
| Equipment | $0.00 | $500.00 | $500.00 | 0.10% |
| Finger Print Fees | $1,500.00 | $0.00 | $1,500.00 | 0.29% |
| Fuel | $0.00 | -$750.00 | -$750.00 | -0.15% |
| Garbage Removal | $0.00 | -$345.00 | -$345.00 | -0.07% |
| Health Insurance | $38,108.00 | $22,967.36 | $61,075.36 | 12.01% |
| Insurance | $4,941.00 | -$1,570.00 | $3,371.00 | 0.66% |
| Legal Services | $6,500.00 | $900.00 | $7,400.00 | 1.45% |
| Municipal Retirement | $9,535.00 | $1,544.10 | $11,079.10 | 2.18% |
| Other Funds | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | 0.00% |
| Postage | $2,200.00 | $300.00 | $2,500.00 | 0.49% |
| Professional Services | $3,000.00 | $0.00 | $3,000.00 | 0.59% |
| PROFESSIONAL SERVICES/AUDIT* | $0.00 | $250.00 | $250.00 | 0.05% |
| Purchased Services | $0.00 | $20,000.00 | $20,000.00 | 3.93% |
| Rent | $0.00 | $240.00 | $240.00 | 0.05% |
| Repairs/Maintenance | $3,000.00 | -$2,000.00 | $1,000.00 | 0.20% |
| Salaries | $118,485.00 | $57,758.13 | $176,243.13 | 34.64% |
| Section 125 | $15.00 | $25.60 | $40.60 | 0.01% |
| Social Security | $9,091.00 | $2,782.53 | $11,873.53 | 2.33% |
| Supplies | $2,941.00 | -$2,940.00 | $1.00 | 0.00% |
| Support Salaries | $400.00 | $0.00 | $400.00 | 0.08% |
| Technology Services | $180,100.00 | $16,689.61 | $196,789.61 | 38.68% |
| Travel Expenses | -$1,200.00 | -$1,000.00 | -$2,200.00 | -0.43% |
| Tuition Reimbursement | $0.00 | $600.00 | $600.00 | 0.12% |
| Unemployment | -$208.00 | $19.25 | -$188.75 | -0.04% |
| Water/Sewer | $812.00 | -$1,500.00 | -$688.00 | -0.14% |
| Workers’ Compensation | $1,607.00 | $326.05 | $1,933.05 | 0.38% |
| Grand Total | $437,270.00 | $71,449.22 | $508,719.22 |
I realize this is A LOT of information but, as you can see, the OCSU budget is complicated and requires a fair amount of backup to properly explain even a single departments expenditures.
I would also like to address this portion of your request for comment:
“At the Annual meeting last night a community member expressed frustration with how no one from the business office, or central office in general was at the meeting to talk about why the budget line item for the office of the superintendent has increased by more than 500,000 dollars in the past two years”
The School Board is responsible for presenting the budget to the voters at the Annual Meeting. It is their job to explain details, answer questions and address concerns from the community. The role of the Business Manager is to prepare all necessary materials, including detailed documents, charts and financial breakdowns, in advance of the meeting, ensuring that the Board has a comprehensive and accessible set of information to present to the voters. I am an Albany resident, I chose to attend the Annual Meeting in the capacity of a taxpayer, not as the Business Manager.
Having said that, I encourage anyone who wants to have a better understanding of the budget to participate in the Finance Committee meetings where the budget is developed. I presented all LRUEMSD budget information to the board over the course of 7 Finance Committee meetings from November to February. These meetings were warned and open to the public on the below dates:
11/25/24
12/05/24
12/19/24
1/9/25
1/16/25
1/27/25
2/27/25
Additionally all OCSU budget information was discussed and presented at the OCSU board meetings from November – February. I appreciate your desire for greater clarity regarding what is, by nature, a complex and intricate budget. I’m more than happy to provide any additional details or explanations you may need. Please feel free to reach out with any additional questions or concerns.
The LR Post thanks Melissa for this explanation of this very complex matter.