A sort of perfect storm of challenges pushed me through a couple of rough weeks, last month, and it’s taken a few weeks for me to regain my footing. Part of the recovery process has been the correction of mistakes made during a rush of activity, and one of the more significant was on this site. I’ve deleted the offending post so as to minimize confusion.
Essentially, I looked at the state and federal aid that the General Assembly’s budget allocated to Tiverton Schools, compared it with the number that our financial town meeting (FTM) assumed, and concluded that the school department would be receiving upwards of $600,000 more than expected. The state budget, at the time, called for $4,931,735 in state money and $394,326 in federal money filtered through the state, for a total of $5,326,061. The GA’s budget, as the enacted, allocates $4,923,363 state and $402,699 federal, for $5,326,062. The budget passed by the FTM assumed $4,641,742 in aid.
My mistake was that I took the state’s number to be exclusive of “restricted” funds. Federal aid does come in separate batches, but for the most part, the state uses the method of “restricting” percentages of the total aid that it provides. For the school year now concluding, Tiverton received $739,833 in “restricted” aid, which (if continued) would bring the total assumed by the FTM to $5,381,575, so the state actually allocated $55,514 less.
Two points emerge. First, it’s misleading to speak of state and federal aid without including “restricted” money; as the state budget shows, the dollars sum together with no difficulty, and the town simply moves money from one expenditure to another on paper. If I give you money but insist that you use it to pay your electric bill, the money with which you would otherwise made the payment is freed up for other purposes.
Second, not incorporating “restricted” aid in public budget calculations makes it very difficult for interested residents to follow along with the process and really understand the accounting over which the FTM gives us ultimate authority. The school department, when challenged on transparency, will protest that it provides anybody with any requested information, but the majority of electors will go by what they find in obvious places, like the FTM docket.
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