‘Final’ CCSD budget approved

Churchill County District trustees approved the 2013-14 fiscal year budget Wednesday night during a regularly scheduled meeting.

Business Services Director Phyllys Dowd outlined budget figures during her short public hearing. Interim Superintendent Bus Scharmann flashed a smile afterward, adding some changes could still be in store since the amount of funding from the legislature still has not been determined. By state law, the district is required to present its budget for public review at an open meeting on the third Wednesday of May.

“It’s called the final budget, but it’s really not,” Scharmann said. “This was still a big step tonight.”

Dowd, who took over as chief of CCSD’s Business department in October, described the process as complex, from reading the actual budget on the state forms to allocating costs for each program, function and object.

“I have worked diligently towards a final budget that accurately projects what will happen with the district during the next fiscal year,” Dowd noted in her report to trustees. “I have had tremendous support from staff at all levels as I tried to grasp all the nuances of every department and program.”

Added Scharmann: “Phyllys has put in an incredible amount of work to get the budget in the order its in now. And I don’t just see that with Phyllys; it’s generally the case with everybody I’ve been working with in the school district. I see it with the teachers and principals, the custodians, and everybody else.”

Board President Ron Evans took note of a chart that showed the General Fund Total Revenue History peaked at $34 million in 2007 and ’08 and then dropped to $27.8 million for 2014.

“Any business that would drop in revenue like this over a period of time and still be required to produce the same result, with more students, doesn’t seem to have a lot of logic.”

Trustee Greg Koenig later pointed out the district’s student enrollment has seen an increase from the start of the school year in August.

“This is the first time in five, maybe six years when our student count has gone up,” Koenig said.

After a brief discussion, which had no response from the publics, the motion passed by a 7-0 vote.

Trustees also discussed or took action on the following items:

• Awarded a contract to Reno-based Geney/Gassiot General Contractors in the amount of $520,392 for construction in the CCMS gymnasium. Work will include renovations to the gymnasium’s public and student restrooms, locker rooms, showers, coaches offices, lobby, training rooms, storage rooms, small gym and weight room to bring those facilities into compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, abate asbestos and lead-based materials and upgrade finishes and fixtures.

• Awarded a contract to Ferguson Construction of Fallon in the amount of $1,153,660 for renovations at Northside Early Learning Center. Work will include replacing the Heating, Ventilating and Air Conditioning (HVAC) units, replacing the roof, renovating interior student and faculty restrooms, renovate the front entrance to create a controlled access point, and replacing door lock sets to comply with ADA and improve building security.

• Awarded a contract to CC Communications of Fallon in the amount of $63,310.74 to install a new telephone and paging system at CCHS. Funding is within the budgeted amount of bond funds for the high school.

• Rescheduled discussion of an extension to a contract for construction management services to Parsons Commercial Technology Group in the amount of $70,850 through October 2013. The item will be on the agenda for the school board meeting next Thursday.

Note: Scharmann said Mayor Ken Tedford Jr. has proclaimed May 29 as Nathan and Trevor Day as part of a support effort for two Churchill County Middle School students — Nathan Hutchings and Trevor QWuth — who are battling cancer. Of interest, it was the second public meeting of the day for Scharmann, who is also a member of the Board of County Commissioners, which conducted a three-hour meeting on Wednesday.