web1_TTL121616SouthStSubs1CMYK.jpg

South Street Subs to open on South Main Street in Wilkes-Barre in January

Automotive Today December 2016

<p>WILKES-BARRE &#8212; A new performance audit by the state Auditor General&#8217;s office determined Wilkes-Barre Area School District has kept its financial records in order, but the audit highlighted the district&#8217;s rapidly shrinking fund balance, or surplus.</p><p>The declining surplus, however, isn&#8217;t exactly news. Past school boards repeatedly have dipped into what was once essentially a healthy savings account in order to avoid or limit tax hikes, and then-business manager Leonard Pryzwara increasingly warned the practice couldn&#8217;t continue.</p><p>In fact, an internal projection &#8211; backed by a review done by an outside agency &#8211; had predicted that, barring a change in chronic deficit spending, a fund balance of $7.4 million at the start of the 2014-15 fiscal year would be a $17.6 million deficit by 2019-20.</p><p>Earlier this year, the board adopted a &#8220;pathway to the future&#8221; plan that calls for up to $11 million in savings during the next four years, and backed up that commitment by eliminating several programs in the 2016-17 budget and furloughing teachers.</p><p>The audit tracked the fund balance from June 2011, when it was $16.4 million, to June 2015, when the state reckoned it at $6.6 million. It actually climbed to $16.7 million in 2012 and only dipped to $16.4 million in 2013. But it plummeted the next two years, to $13.3 million and then $6.6 million.</p><p>The report notes the 2015 fund balance of $6.6 million is 6 percent of district expenditures, and concedes that is within the 5 to 10 percent range generally recommended. But the audit also contends &#8220;the one-year $6.7 million decrease during the 2014-15 fiscal year is concerning.&#8221;</p><p>The audit also notes the district&#8217;s budgeted revenues were consistently less than expenditures, adding up to a deficit of $13.2 million from 2012 through 2015.</p><p>In a written response, the district said a big part of the problem was &#8220;increases in mandated expenditures,&#8221; citing the four-year pathway to the future as proof it will address the issue.</p><p>The district also promised &#8220;to develop and approve written balanced budget policies that will ensure future costs are taken into consideration and will be used in conjunction with the 4-year plan to enable the district to get to a structural balanced budget.&#8221;</p><style>
.neFileBlock {
	margin-bottom: 20px;
}
.neFileBlock p {
	margin: 0px 0px 0px 0px;
}
.neFileBlock .neFile {
	border-bottom: 1px dotted #aaa;
	padding-bottom: 5px;
	padding-top: 10px;
}
.neFileBlock .neCaption {
	font-size: 85%;
}
</style>
<div class='neFileBlock'>
<div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/web1_TTL060716coughlin2-1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Coughlin High School students leave after a half day on Monday. 6/6/2016 Aimee Dilger|Times Leader</div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/web1_TTL060716coughlin2-1.jpg</photo0><caption0>Coughlin High School students leave after a half day on Monday. 6/6/2016 Aimee Dilger|Times Leader</caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Mark Guydish</p><p>mguydish@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Mark Guydish at 570-991-6112 or on Twitter @TLMarkGuydish</p></shirttailMeta></div>

State audit spotlights Wilkes-Barre Area School District’s shrinking surplus