Budget committee hears $446,849 projected surplus; finance director flags Eversource payout and encumbrance error

The Middletown School District budget committee on June 22 was told the district projects a $446,849 surplus for the June 2–15 reporting period, Finance Director Natalie Fords said.

“Our budget expenditures show a modest surplus of $446,849,” Fords said, adding that salary surpluses in certified, classified and paraeducator lines are the principal drivers.

Fords told the committee she had entered a board-authorized payout for Beaman electricity to Eversource into the June 15 expenditure report so the committee could see the year-end bottom line. She said the payout was reflected as a roughly $200,000 entry against the electrical line and that the supplies and materials line now shows an $85,903 deficit inclusive of that payment. The report also references an outstanding balance of about $209,000 owed to Eversource.

Fords said the district is requesting an additional $20,000 for legal services because purchased-services deficits remain a pressure on the budget.

She also explained an accounting encumbrance issue in certified salaries that produced an unexpected $131,000 showing as available in encumbrances. “In the course of building that system, which was done by an outside vendor…they forgot to click 2 radio buttons,” Fords said, describing how the vendor omitted funerals and CT sick time from the encumbrance checks. She said the vendor corrected the setup after the district raised the problem.

Fords said she entered the Eversource payout proactively because the district had sufficient funds and that she consulted with the superintendent before doing so. She said that if funds had not been sufficient she would not have entered the payout.

Fords told the committee the prior-year unexpended balance for 2024–25 is $80,696.93 and that the district plans to apply some of that amount toward removal of two oil tanks at Spencer and Farmhill elementary schools; she estimated minimum removal costs of about $40,000 per tank and said total removal and replacement costs will be several hundred thousand dollars, with grant funding to be sought. Facilities Director Marco Gaylord was identified as the staff contact for that work.

The committee did not take formal votes on new appropriations during the meeting; Fords said the final unexpended-balance figure for the current year will be known between July 31 and Aug. 15 as invoices arrive.

The meeting closed after routine agenda items and scheduling for September.