THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, September 10, 1995 TAG: 9509090150
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 06 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Editorial
SOURCE: Beth Barber
LENGTH: Medium: 55 lines
Better, maybe, that Sid Faucette had filled in School Board and City Council on what he calls ``the real substantial issues'' manifest in his unbalanced school budget(s) before he hied off to Georgia.
Still, the man who superintended four school budgets, at least one of which ended in deficit and the latest of which begins that way, would be willing, he told The Atlanta Constitution this past week, to ``sit down and talk with `all players.' '' That includes the Beach City Council and School Board members, all together `` `for the moment of truth.' ''
Well, name the time and place, Sid, and officials, public and press will attend, as the law requires when more than two of elected officials convene. In his letter this week to interim superintendent Jim Pughs-ley (reprinted below), Faucette didn't exactly offer to beam himself right up. He did offer ``to provide any information needed in the course of resolving this situation.''
``This situation'' is the ship of schools' run onto the Reef of Red Ink while Sid Faucette was helmsman. In '94-'95, we now know for sure, expenditures exceeded revenues by some $7.4 million, including a handful of unbudgeted transactions that cost the district some $8 million. If that doesn't sound humongous in a budget of some $329 million, remember: 87% of it goes to salaries and fringe benefits, a portion Faucette once described in a press conference as non-discretionary. It isn't, quite; but once salary costs are fixed, they're supposed to stay fixed.
``Fixed'' is not a word freely associated with Faucette budgets (``fluid'' is). But take out those personnel costs and we're talking mostly overestimating/underbudgeting/overspending in 13% of the budget, or about $43 million. To incur a deficit of $7.4 million, the current estimate for '94-'95, when dealing primarily with $43 million is to be off by 17 percent.
That may be a layperson's view, but then most taxpayers aren't accountants, most elected officials aren't, and apparently too few school hirees are. Which leads to this thought: Where's John Moss when we need him?
Actually, the former council member who could and occasionally did count beans around Sid Faucette (et al.) moved down around Memphis last year. Guess who else lives there? Hal Canary, Beach schools' chief financial officer from Sept. 7, 1993, until he was in effect fired on or about Aug. 16, 1994.
That's on or about the time that, according to a memo last month from Mort Smith, then budget director, now chief financial officer, ``no July 1994 Financial Statement was provided to the School Board (which would have reflected the ('93-'94) expenditures which were charged to the 1994-95 budget),'' charges which he says contributed to the '94-'95 deficit.
John, you know Hal. Hal, you know John. C'mon up for a chat with Sid. by CNB