POTTSTOWN PA – Maybe, Fred Remelius suggested aloud, it’s time for a re-think.
Remelius, treasurer of the Pottsgrove School District Board of School Directors, joined other board members Tuesday night (Dec. 7, 2010) in questioning the district’s anticipated $16,310 contribution to the Pottsgrove Recreation Board‘s 2011 budget. While district funding will be available during the next 12 months, what happens beyond that apparently is debatable.
The Pottsgrove Community Band, shown in 2009 during its 50th anniversary concert at Pottsgrove High School, may be the most visible component of the Pottsgrove Recreation Board.
The work of the Recreation Board – creating recreational opportunities for residents of Lower, Upper and West Pottsgrove (PA) townships – “is not really a school district-type of function,” Remelius said flatly. Other directors’ nodding heads indicated their agreement.
The budget was accepted, and no formal vote on funding changes was taken during the directors’ only meeting this month, held in the cafeteria at Pottsgrove High School, Kauffman Road, Pottstown PA. Yet the discussion served to put the Recreation Board and townships on notice that, in the treasurer’s words, “planning for changes next year may be something they need to do.”
The Recreation Board offers programs like volleyball, swimming lessons, skiing trips, table tennis, summer playgrounds, and women’s exercise groups throughout the year. Probably its most well-known and publicly visible component is the Pottsgrove Community Band, which on the next two Mondays, Dec. 13 and 20, will perform Christmas concerts in Sanatoga and Boyertown, respectively.
The board’s approved 2011 budget shows it plans to spend $83,620 next year, the bulk of which ($50,825; 59 percent) will pay for salaries of part-time Director Jody Sweinhart ($16,460) and program instructors and supervisors. Its next highest expenses are for the skiing and swimming programs, $7,000; payroll taxes, $5,035; and insurance, transportation, and professional fees, $5,000 each.
- A copy of the 2011 Pottsgrove Recreation budget, provided by the district, appears below.
The district is the highest contributor to Recreation Board funding. Each of the three townships during 2011 will contribute based on their populations: Lower Pottsgrove, $9,557; Upper Pottsgrove, $3,498; and West Pottsgrove, $3,253. Combined with user fees of $21,000, that would provide the board with more than $53,000 of revenue next year.
The $30,000 difference between its spending plan and those revenues, school Director David Faulkner noted, is a “carry over” of money unspent during 2010. That prompted him to wonder how the budget was created, and why a surplus existed. Moreover, he guessed, without a surplus the district and townships probably would be billed for a significantly higher contribution.
The Recreation Board builds its own budget and delivers it to the district for review, Business Administrator David Nester responded. “We try to check it over to see that it’s logical and makes sense,” he added. And yes, Nester acknowledged, the surplus made a big difference in the district donation.
Directors say they expect at least two more years of tight fiscal constraints, as they watch the district’s state funding decline and more of its tax-paying property owners lose their jobs. Pottsgrove has appealed for public help in scrutinizing its expenses. Next month it hopes to organize committees to guide it in creating the district’s 2011-2012 budget.
“Given our financial situation, particularly next year,” Remelius observed, a Recreation Board re-think may be on the table.
Related (to the Pottsgrove Board of School Directors’ Dec. 7 meeting):
- School Board Questions Pottsgrove Recreation Costs
- Pottsgrove School Directors Plan Reorganization Tonight
- Download a meeting agenda here
(Editor’s note: The second and fourth paragraphs of this story were re-edited Wednesday (Dec. 8) at 4:30 p.m. to clarify that the Recreation Board’s 2011 budget had been approved, despite the discussion over future funding.)
As a long standing resident of the Pottsgrove and having 3 children going through the school I’m very appreciative of what the Rec. department supplied for my family in the way of activities. Their programs are always well organized and participated in. We don’t need less but need more activities for our children to do. You should be allocating more. Thank you!
Brian, thanks for sharing your thoughts. The more school board members hear from the public on this subject, both for and against, the better positioned they’ll be to make a pertinent decision.