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Cheshire committee shifts nearly $1.12 million into owner contingency as budget review moves to top of agenda
Summary
The Town of Cheshire school building committee approved transfers totaling $1,117,738.68 to the owner's contingency after a monthly budget review flagged encumbered line items. Members said the change will simplify accounting of bid savings and provide flexibility for imminent purchase orders and pending change orders.
The Town of Cheshire school building committee on Thursday approved two transfers to the owner's contingency, moving $562,791.77 from encumbered North End project line items and $554,946.91 from like balances for the Norton project.
The moves came after project staff presented the monthly budget package and recommended moving identified unspent line-item balances (architecture fees, owner's representative, construction management, FF&E and technology) into a consolidated owner contingency. "If we have to go for additional services, we would have to move that up from the owner contingency," Rich Gussenberg said as he introduced the budget review.
Committee members pressed staff for an explicit paper trail showing how funds are moved from line items labeled "bid savings" into the owner contingency. "I think there should be a paper trail," said Chuck Nep, citing March accounting entries that did not show a clear transfer path. Staff agreed and said they would document the transfers in the owner-contingency log.
Both motions were moved, seconded and recorded as approved during the meeting. Committee members said the consolidated approach will make it easier to understand available funds before approving change orders and purchases. Emily, the staff member who maintains the owner contingent documentation, explained that some PCOs already approved have not yet been charged out of contingency; those amounts remain held as "holds" in the monthly report.
Why it matters: consolidating bid savings into a single contingency can make monthly decision-making more straightforward, but committee members insisted on a clear accounting trail so future transfers and spend authorizations are auditable. The committee also directed the project team to continue bringing the budget review to the top of each agenda so purchase decisions are informed by current balances.
Next steps: project staff will update the owner-contingency log to show the transfers and continue to flag holds for previously approved PCOs. The committee will review any related purchase orders or change orders in subsequent meetings.
