Revenue forecasting a collaborative effort
By Canton CitizenDear Editor:
I would like to comment on something I read in the January 12 Canton Citizen article on the school budget; i.e., that on January 26, the finance director and the Finance Committee will make their recommendation on the revenue for FY18. To clarify how the process works, Canton has a Revenue Forecasting Committee. This committee is made up of one-fifth School Department, one-fifth Finance Committee, and three-fifths town officials such as the town administrator, the finance director, the accountant, the assessors, the Economic Development Committee, and the Building Department. These are mostly the ones with knowledge on the various local revenue sources.
The governor was expected to release his local aid numbers around January 20. On January 26 (today), this group will meet to develop a reasonable expectation of next year’s revenue. In other words, they will forecast how much money the municipal and schools have to spend next year. The school superintendent and the school business administrator each have a vote on that committee. After debate on the various sources and amount of expected revenue, they all reach a consensus and they, the Revenue Forecast Committee, vote the recommended amount of revenue the town has to spend for the next fiscal year.
The preliminary wants of the School Department, as well as the municipal departments, are determined before the revenue forecast is made. Once the expected revenue is determined, the wants of the municipal departments and the School Department need to be trimmed back to what the town has enough revenue to pay for. In past years, the Board of Selectmen has done an outstanding job in trimming the municipal budgets.
The school superintendent and the school business administrator voted for that revenue amount and the split of that revenue, so to suggest the need to convince the town voters that the schools need more money than available is out of place. Anything less than trimming back to what is available is unfair to the taxpayers and the voters.
Jim Sims
Short URL: https://www.thecantoncitizen.com/?p=35340
Posted by Canton Citizen
on Jan 27 2017. Filed under From One Citizen to Another, Opinion.
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