In Brief: City and School District Each Hold Budget Meetings Monday

Tonight the talk around town, so to speak, is going to be budgets, budgets, budgets.

administration will be presenting its "budget story," as superintendent Leonard Rezmierski calls it, to the Northville community at 7 p.m. at . And at the city hall, city staff and council members will gather to discuss the city's budget.

School budget meeting to touch on big per pupil losses

Aside from the widely publicized $470 per student hit that the district expects to take in the next school year under Gov. Rick Snyder’s proposed budget, there are additional rising costs –measured in a loss of per pupil dollars – that will result in cuts. In total the district expects to lose $791 per student for 7,301 students, or $5.8 million, according to .

“If implemented, these devastating actions will have a direct effect on our classrooms through larger class sizes; additional teacher, support staff and administrator lay-offs; and further reductions in services and supplies across the school district," according to a letter by Rezmierski.

In a recent interview with Rezmierski and Michael Zopf, Superintendent for Finance and Operations, the two detailed exactly how they arrived at the $791 per pupil loss amount.

First, the district expects a $91 per pupil loss for what are called its center programs, which are operated at and schools. These programs serve students with special needs.

Second, the cost of the district’s employer pension contribution is slated to increase by 24.46 percent. That translates to a loss of $230 per pupil or $ 1,679,265. According to district documents, pension costs have increased over the last three years.

And those amounts, coupled with the $470 per student, cut will mean big cuts and changes in how the district operates.

The number of students the district is an indicator of how much they expect to lose. In recent years, Rezmierski said, the district-wide population has remained stagnant.

“We’re fortunate we haven’t had a horrific loss of students,” he said, pointing out that other districts in the state have had bigger losses. “The loss of students in devastating to our budget.”

In general the veteran superintendent, who has held the title for about 20 years, described the budget situation as “the worst any of us has seen in 40 years…None of us could ever imagine this kind of situation.”

Ultimately, the school board votes on where to make cuts in order to balance the district budget.

And in a with board of education president , she indicated that cuts and concessions would have to be made in the realm of personnel – which accounts for 89 percent of the district’s costs in salaries and benefits.

Rezmierski agrees.

“There will have to be significant concessions with our union groups,” he said. Currently, the district is in negotiations with its unions, which include teachers, food service and bus drivers among others. The district employs nearly 1,000 people.

“Clearly we have to revisit salary and fringe benefits and come up with shared sacrifices across the board,” he said.

The district is self-insured and pays about $231,000 per week, Sopf explained.

That amount is up by about 30 percent, he added.

For Rezmierski, one of his biggest points of contention is with the governor’s budget. The governor has consistently maintained that such cuts are needed to rejuventate the state by making it more business-friendly.

“We’re all for attracting business to the state but if we’re devastating our schools what business will want to come here,” he said.

Particularly upsetting for Rezmierski is the share of the state’s budget cuts being made on the backs of school districts.

“It’s disproportionate to other groups,” he said, pointing to a handout prepared by the Michigan Association of School Administrators and the Michigan Association of Intermediate School Administrators. The handout indicates that school aid funding will see the second-highest decrease, of 7.3 percent, while the department of education will see an about 10 percent decrease in funding under Governor Snyder’s budget.

So tonight, less than a month away from the May 3 sinking fund election, the Northville Public Schools district makes its case to the community.

The meeting will be held at Meads Mill Middle School at 7 p.m.

City council to discuss staff budget proposal

The city council will hold its second budget meeting tonight. The 400-plus-page proposed budget will be reviewed along with presentations by the city’s department heads.

Tonight, according to the meeting agenda, several directors – including finance Director Sandi Wiktorowski, Northville Youth Assistance Director Sue Campbell, a representative from the arts commission, public works Director James Gallogly and parks and recreation Interim Director Joanna Harris – will discuss their department's budgets.

Last year, the city had a citizens budget committee meet to set goals and priorities in a report for elected officials to consider before voting on a budget.

The meeting will be held at the city offices at 7 p.m.